


From Hells To Heavens

by brightlikeloulou



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mpreg, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Child Abuse, Pre & Post Apocalypse, Pregnant Daryl Dixon, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-02-27 18:33:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 55,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18744730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightlikeloulou/pseuds/brightlikeloulou
Summary: Light was brought into Daryl's world when he met Rick Grimes, and they enjoyed fourteen wonderful years together before the world decided it was time to suffer again. It started when Rick was shot on duty, and it just got worse from there.Believing his husband was dead, Daryl left their home with their son, and unborn child in his stomach.______Or, Rick and Daryl's lives, before and after the outbreak.Or, a rewrite of canon.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this idea came to me, and refused to leave. I hope y'all like!
> 
> FYI  
> \- the text in italics is the flashbacks.  
> \- Carl is 2 years younger at the start of the outbreak in this fic than he was in canon.  
> \- timeline is probably going to be different than the show's.  
> \- Rick/Lori was never a thing. Lori is married to Shane & Carl is Daryl and Rick's child (Daryl was pregnant)  
> \- Daryl is Daryl Grimes as he took Rick's name when they married.  
> \- rating is explicit because there will be smut  
> \- this chapter takes place about a week after Rick woke from his coma, but obvs everyone else doesn't know that.

Life had been a pile of shit for Daryl, right up until he met Rick Grimes. He was twenty-two when he met him, twenty-two years of hell to endure before he finally got some light in his life.

He was naïve to think that the world was finished tormenting him, that it was someone else's turn and he got to be happy for the rest of his life.

It took fourteen years, but the world did decide it was Daryl's time to suffer again, along with every other human in existence.

It was sunrise, and the people of the camp would be waking soon. Daryl had barely slept the whole night, which had been a common occurrence for over the last month.

Daryl sighed heavily and turned over in his sleeping bag. His eyes fell on his brother. Merle was laid on his back with one arm over his stomach, and his jaw dropped open as heavy breaths fell out of it; there looked to be fewer lines on his face, he looked younger.

Daryl's eyes moved again, further up the tent and closer to himself; where his son lay. Carl, ten now, was tucked up in his own mound of blankets and peacefully sleeping. He was on his side, the position he usually liked to sleep in, and his face was a little squished against his pillow. He was so adorable and looked so much like Rick that it made Daryl's heart ache.

Daryl's throat tightened, and he let out a shaky breath as he thought of his husband. His beautiful, loving, brave, dead husband.

He sucked in a deep breath as he ran a hand over his face, he forced himself to calm down and then quietly got out of his sleeping bag. He'd slept in his clothes, so he didn't bother changing. He leaned down to peck Carl on the forehead before he left the tent and smiled when the kid screwed up his nose.

Daryl zipped the tent behind him, and then looked around the camp to see who was up. He quickly spotted Shane on top of the RV, holding his gun and keeping guard.

Daryl walked over, and Shane watched as he climbed up to join him on the roof.

"You get any sleep?" Shane asked as Daryl sat down beside him.

Daryl shrugged, "A little," he sighed, "You? Lori?"

Shane shrugged too, "She's sleeping better than I am at least,"

"That's something,"

Shane turned his head to look at him, "How's Carl? It's hard to read the kid,"

Daryl sighed heavily and pulled his knees to his chest, "He's trying so hard to be strong, trying so damn hard not to let me see how upset he is. But he's my son, I know him, he can't hide," he said softly, staring down the road in front of them, wishing that Rick would just suddenly appear walking up it, "I know he's hurting. I know he's heartbroken,"

"He lost his father, of course, he would be," Shane said, running a hand over his face and groaning softly, "Fuck, Daryl, what about you? You lost your husband,"

The words sent tears to Daryl's eyes, "I know, Shane. Trust me, I fucking know," he whispered.

Daryl knew that he should tell him, him, Lori and Merle. They should all know, and he was stupid by not telling them. It wasn't safe, but then again, nothing was safe anymore. His chances wouldn't be better if he told them.

 

* * *

 

_Daryl nervously bit at his thumb as he waited. He was alone in the house, Rick was at work, and since it was Summer break, Carl was at a friend's house for the day. Daryl had dropped him off earlier in the morning and then gone to the pharmacy on his way home._

_It had taken him several hours to work up the courage to take the tests, the bag sitting on the vanity in his and Rick's ensuite while he did some cleaning around the house._

_Now, he was sat on his and Rick's large King bed that he'd put fresh sheets on only a few minutes earlier, and not so patiently waiting the required couple of minutes to be over._

_He looked down at his nails and realized that he'd bitten them down to almost nothing. He winced at the sight of them; Rick would definitely notice, and he knew that Daryl bit his nails when he was anxious, so he'd be wanting to know what had him upset._

_He got lost in his thoughts until the alarm began ringing from his phone. He squeezed his eyes closed for a moment, and then reached over and turned the alarm off as he took a deep breath. It took him several more seconds to finally grasp the two pregnancy tests that were sat on the bed beside him._

_Holding the tests in his hands immediately sparked memories of when he'd found out that he was pregnant with Carl, ten years previous. He smiled a little and then forced himself to look down._

_He breathed out when he read the results of both tests; two little plus signs, and two digital 'pregnant's._

_He tossed the tests back onto the bed and stood up, his thumb went back to his mouth, and he began chewing as he paced his and Rick's bedroom. He should be happy, he thinks._

_They hadn't planned to only stop with Carl, they intended to have another child a few years after he was born, but their attempts to conceive were unsuccessful, and they eventually gave up. They'd spoken several times since about how they were glad Daryl hadn't gotten pregnant again, that they liked only having one child because that meant more attention could be on him._

_Daryl wondered exactly how strongly Rick felt about that and if he'd be upset to hear Daryl was pregnant or overjoyed that they were going to have the second child they had tried to have years before._

_It only took a few minutes for Daryl to decide he wasn't going to tell Rick just yet; he needed to process his own thoughts and feelings first so that he and Rick could have a proper conversation. After spending a long while pacing and going through a whole range of emotions, Daryl collected the pregnancy tests and hid them at the top of his and Rick's walk-in closet, in a large tub of winter coats that he knew Rick wouldn't look through._

_He'd just put the lid back on the container again when his phone started to ring from where he left it on the bed. Daryl quickly made his way towards it, Rick usually called around this time of day - whether Daryl was at work or at home - to check in and see how his day was going. They'd been together fourteen years now, but Daryl still got a little excited whenever Rick's contact name and photo flashed across his phone screen._

_He reached his phone and was surprised to find that it was Shane, which was strange as Daryl couldn't think of any reason that Shane would be calling him unless he and Rick were out patrolling, and Rick had forgotten his phone at the station, or he'd let it go flat._

_Daryl picked up the phone, swiping to answer and then placing it at his ear, "Hello," he said._

_"Daryl," Shane's voice met his ears a few moments later, and Daryl immediately hated his tone. He sounded distraught and scared._

_"Shane," Daryl said, dread immediately beginning to fill his stomach as he a lump formed in his throat, "What's wrong? Where's Rick?" he asked._

_Shane was quiet, and Daryl was ready to scream at him when the man finally answered him, "There was an incident, and he got shot. The ambulance just got him, and he's being taken to the hospital for surgery… they were doing CPR once he was in the back," Shane told him, and he sounded on the verge of tears._

_Daryl's lips parted in shock, and he felt like he was going to be sick, "Oh my god," he whimpered, one hand cupping his mouth as he stood frozen in his and Rick's bedroom._

_"Me and the other officers are on our way to the hospital now if you want to come," Shane said softly._

_"Of course, I'm going to fucking come!" Daryl yelled at him because his husband was shot, and he was having surgery, so of fucking course, he was going to the hospital._

_"I know," Shane whispered, and he sounded to be in a similar state of shock to what Daryl was._

_"Be there soon," Daryl grunted and proceeded to hang up the phone, then shoving it in the back pocket of his jeans._

_Daryl sunk to his knees on the carpet, and he tried to suck air into his heaving lungs as sobs started to overtake him._

_*_

_It felt like it took years for Daryl to reach the hospital. His mind was no longer on the new baby he just discovered he and Rick were going to have, he was now thinking as to whether or not his husband was going to fucking survive._

_Daryl was just about to ask the woman at the front desk where the hell his husband was when Shane called his name._

_Daryl spun on his feet and found that Shane was stood in the waiting room, and several other officers were sat in the uncomfortable plastic chairs._

_"Shane," Daryl said, almost jogging over to him, "What happened?" he almost whimpered._

_Shane sighed heavily and reached out, Daryl was surprised when the younger man pulled him into a hug. Shane wasn't much of a hugger, and his usual way to show Daryl affection was to pet him on the back. Daryl was stiff in the hug for a minute, and then loosely wrapped his arms around Shane's lower back._

_Shane started to speak a few moments later, "We were on patrol and got a call for a high-speed chase. We cut them off and put out road spikes; they went over them, and the car ended up in a field. The driver and passengers survived, the first couple got out and started shooting; one got Rick in his vest, but we got them down. We thought it was only those two, and we were focused on Rick when a third got out; we were too distracted, didn't even see him stand up and point his gun,"_

_Daryl's lips parted, and he let out a shaky breath as he pulled away from Shane, "He let himself get fucking distracted," Daryl said, running a hand over his face and he knew that it wasn't Rick's fault, but he didn't know what he was supposed to think._

_"It was my fault," Shane whispered, reaching for Daryl's shoulder, "I ran over to him and started talking before waiting to see if there was a third. I saw him get hit, and even though it was only in his vest, it scared the shit out of me. I'm sorry,"_

_Daryl was quiet for a moment, and Shane directed him to sit down on one of the chairs. Daryl ignored the looks of sympathy from all the other officers and buried his face in his hands as Shane sat down beside him._

_"It ain't your fault," he eventually said, and didn't give Shane time to speak before he spoke again, "Is he in surgery?" he asked, not lifting his head._

_"Yeah," Shane replied, "We haven't gotten any news since they took him in,"_

_"Where was he hit?" Daryl asked._

_"Chest," Shane said softly, and Daryl let out a shaky breath._

_"Fuck," he whispered, and he lifted his head to run his hands over his face, "God, I can't fucking believe this," he whispered._

_"I know," Shane said, and he was trying his best to be comforting, but it wasn't an easy thing to comfort Daryl unless he knew how to do it._

_"Why the fuck didn't he call me?" Daryl grunted, "I ain't stupid, I know his job's dangerous, that he was always at risk. But, me and him made a deal a long time ago; he always had to call me when he was going somewhere that would potentially put him in danger," he explained, his voice shaking, "That was the deal, he promised me,"_

_"I know," Shane whispered, his hand stroking down his back, "I've heard him make that call dozens of times. It all happened so fast, we didn't have time to stop,"_

_Daryl got up a few minutes later, and Shane watched him, "I need to call Merle; tell him to shut the shop and that he needs to pick Carl up from his friend's house in a few hours. Look after him until I can get to him," he explained._

_"Okay, I'll call you back if the Doctor comes out," Shane replied, and Daryl nodded and looked at him for a moment before pulling out his phone and leaving the waiting room._

 

* * *

 

Daryl tried his best to be quiet as he threw up just outside of camp, a little way into the tree line. He was just over two months pregnant now and displaying the same symptoms he had when he was pregnant with Carl. He was almost constantly nauseous and throwing up several times a day, along with needing to pee annoyingly regularly.

His mood swings and fatigue were easily disguised to Shane, Lori, and Merle as depression over Rick's death, and nobody seemed to have an idea that he was pregnant.

He sighed heavily as he rested his head against the tree he was throwing up on, he closed his eyes and took deep breaths, waiting to see if the nausea would pass, or if he was going to throw up again.

"God, I did not miss this," he whispered to himself, one hand over his still flat stomach.

It was mid-morning now, and all of the camp was awake, including Carl who was currently getting a haircut from Lori, and Merle was out hunting as their food rations were running low.

He remembered a time when Merle would have caught food, and only keep it for himself, only do anything for himself. He'd changed since then.

Merle had been in and out of Daryl's life ever since he was a child, and he only became permanently in it three years ago. It had started off as him running out of money and needing a place to stay, and despite what Rick had thought, Daryl had offered him their spare bedroom. Merle, surprisingly, saw the life Daryl had made for himself and decided that he was done with traveling place to place and living from paycheck to paycheck.

Daryl gave him a job at the mechanic's he owned, and Merle lived with them for a couple of months before he could afford an apartment. Daryl gave Merle rules, and conditions to stay in his life, and he didn't take them lightly, especially because of Carl. Merle had to give up drugs and (excessive) drinking, he cut himself off from his friends that were bad influences, and he was to never do anything to harm Carl.

Merle had followed Daryl's rules, and several of his own, and he'd become a good brother and a good uncle.

Daryl surged forward as he vomited again, and he grimaced when some of it landed on his boot.

"Dad!" Carl was suddenly calling him from camp, and Daryl quickly wiped at his mouth and spat, cleaning his boot on the grass before making his way out of the trees.

He quickly spotted Carl and Lori near where some of the other women were doing the laundry, and Carl was stood on a log, and he had a frown on his lips as he looked around for him.

Daryl began to walk towards him, and Carl smiled wide and jumped down when he spotted him, "Hey, Carl," he greeted him.

Carl jogged over to him, and wrapped his arms around his stomach, "What were you doing in the trees?" he asked, looking up at him with his bright blue eyes.

"I had to pee," Daryl lied, not wanting to worry his son by telling him he had been throwing up.

"Lori cut my hair,"

Daryl smiled softly at Carl, and then gratefully at Lori who had approached behind them, "It looks good, buddy," he told him, and leaned down to peck his forehead before Carl unwound himself and then jogged over to Sophia who'd called him, "Thank you," he said to Lori.

She smiled at him, and she looked just as exhausted as he felt, "No problem," she said, "I can have a go at yours too," she offered.

Daryl shook his head, "No, I'm okay," he replied, "Shane still on duty?" he asked and turned when she nodded.

"Daryl, wait!" She called and followed after him, he came to a stop and faced her again, "You know you can talk to me, right?" she asked softly, sadness spread over he features as she looked at him, an expression he'd continuously seen when Rick had been in the hospital.

"I know," Daryl said softly, and the gentle smile he's given reminded him of the first time they met, fourteen years ago.

Lori sighed and brushed some hair out of her face before placing both hands on her hips, "Rick was my friend, but he was your husband, and I can't begin to imagine how you're feeling right now, what you're going through," she began, "But, I know I can try my best to be there for you,"

"Thank you," Daryl replied, his voice quiet and he refused to let himself cry again that day.

He turned around and started heading towards Shane again, both he and Shane had been the main pair guarding the camp since they'd arrived a couple of weeks previous. They were both the best shot, and Daryl had a strong need to make sure that there was nothing around that could harm his son.

 

* * *

 

_It was hours later when the Doctor emerged and entered the waiting room. Immediately, Daryl, Shane and the other couple of officers who still remained stood up. Daryl could feel his heart thumping in his chest, and his throat tightening as he tried his best not let tears prick in his eyes._

_The Doctor smiled at them, "Rick Grimes?" he asked._

_Shane was the first one to speak, which was no surprise, "How did it go?" he inquired, and he sounded a little choked up himself._

_The Doctor took a deep breath and briefly glanced around at the people waiting to hear his answer, "He made it out of surgery, and we've placed him in an induced coma," he said, letting them know that Rick was still alive before he continued with the details. Daryl breathed out a sigh of relief, and desperately waited to hear more, "He lost a lot of blood and had to be revived twice during surgery. It's now a matter of making sure nothing else goes wrong, and waiting for him to come out of the coma,"_

_"How long will that take?" Daryl asked, his hands shaking where they sat at his sides._

_The Doctor was quiet for a moment, and his eyes sad as he looked at Daryl, "We don't know. It could take a couple of days, weeks, months or not at all,"_

_Daryl closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face, and he tried to stop the sob that was threatening to rise in his throat._

_Shane swallowed thickly from beside him, "What are the chances that he'll wake up soon?" he asked._

_"I can't give you answer for that, but if after a significant amount of time there's no change, the decision will go to Mr. Grimes' husband," he informed them, and Daryl immediately felt sick._

_How could someone ask him to make that decision? How could someone ask him to choose whether to keep his husband alive or let him die?_

_Tears poured down his face, and Shane quickly had an arm around him again, "It's okay," he whispered, even though everyone knew that it wasn't, "We don't know if it will come to that, okay? Rick's a strong bastard, we all know that. He's going to be fine, we still got time,"_

_Daryl nodded and desperately tried to believe Shane's words._

_The Doctor allowed a few moments for Daryl to calm down, and then he spoke again, "Mr. Grimes," he said, and Daryl looked up at his name, "If you would like to follow me, I can take you to his room, and we'll talk more about his condition,"_

_Daryl nodded and wiped at his eyes, he looked to Shane and found the man already looking at him, "He comes too," he said._

_The Doctor nodded, "Of course," he replied, "He can receive other visitors later, but right now we'll just keep it to you two as some tests are still being run,"_

_Daryl and Shane nodded in understanding, and so did the other officers, who disappointedly sat back down in their chairs as Daryl and Shane followed the Doctor out of the waiting room._

 

* * *

 

Daryl considered just how strange of a thing pregnancy was as he sat down on the logs by the fire with Merle, the two of them gutting and skinning the rabbits and squirrels that Merle had hunted. Daryl could be holding a dead animal in his hands, removing its skin and pulling out its guts and it didn't have an effect on him, but when Carol had been heating up some canned stew the previous night, he had to go and be sick.

"You did good," Daryl said after they'd been working on the animals for a few minutes, "This is enough for two more days,"

Merle grunted, "Only saw the one walker too," he told him.

"That's good, means that they still ain't made their way up this far yet," he replied, glancing out at trees as he did.

Merle sighed and picked up another rabbit, "Won't last long though. It's clear whatever the fuck this is isn't ending, up here ain't gonna be safe forever,"

"Yeah," Daryl agreed. The city was in chaos when they passed through it, and he knew it would be even worse now two weeks later, "We gotta do what we need to try and keep these people safe, need to give Carl some sort of life," he said.

Merle nodded, "He was talking to me about Rick this morning," he said.

Daryl's head snapped to look at him, and he raised one of his eyebrows. Carl hated talking about Rick, and Daryl hadn't tried since a few days after they first got to the quarry with Shane and Lori and made camp. Carl wasn't taking Rick's death and the sudden change to the new world well, and Daryl wished he would talk to him about how he felt.

Carl wouldn't though; he got angry and upset and told Daryl he was fine.

"Really?" Daryl asked his brother.

Merle met his eyes for a moment, "Yeah. I was surprised too, I ain't heard him talk about him in weeks," he said.

"What did he say?" Daryl asked, beginning to work on a new squirrel as he looked over at Carl, who was sitting with Sophia and Carol as they read from a book.

"Not much," Merle said honestly, "He was reading a book when I woke up this morning after you'd left. I asked what it was about, and he told me, along with that Rick had given it to him a few months ago when he did well on a test,"

Daryl smiled a little, he remembered. He and Rick were never pushy, and never pressured Carl, but they did want him to do the best he could. Carl liked to work hard because he knew there was often a reward when he did well, but times when he didn't do well, he knew not to be worried because he was still given praise, and support instead of punishment.

Carl had gotten the best mark in his class on a math's test and had told Rick over the phone after Daryl had picked him up from school and they were driving home. When Rick had come home later in the evening, he had the book to give to him.

"Math's test," Daryl said, "Topped his class,"

"Well, he's a smart kid,"

"Yeah, he is,"

 

* * *

 

_Daryl sighed as he entered the hospital room. Rick still looked the same. He was laid in the bed, arms flat by his sides with different IV's stuck into them, the thin bed covers pulled to his chest and a blank expression on his face._

_It had been a week since he was shot now, and he was yet to show any signs of waking up, but there also hadn't been anything to suggest that he was getting worse._

_Daryl made his way to the seat by the bed and sat down. The chair was as uncomfortable as it always was._

_He reached out and took Rick's limp hand in his own, he gave it a gentle squeeze and then brought it to his mouth and kissed the back of it. He moved his other hand after a few moments and brushed it over the stubble that was growing on Rick's jaw. Rick usually stayed relatively clean shaven, but Daryl loved it when he got a little scruffy._

_"I know you'd be worried about who's looking after Carl when I'm in here with you much. Merle's been staying at our place since it happened, been watching Carl whenever I leave," he told his unconscious husband as his eyes flickered over his features, "He's real' upset, I don't know if he even properly understands what's happening, but I know that he's scared," he said, and his tears welled up as he thought of the state his son was in._

_"I'll bring him in to see you this afternoon if he wants. He hasn't been doing much but sit in his room, but I don't know how well he'd handle seeing you like this," he whispered, and sniffled slightly, "I sure as hell know that I wish I didn't have to see you like this,"_

_As usual, there was no kind of response from Rick as he spoke, but he'd read online somewhere that people in comas could hear what was going on around them. He had no idea if it was true, but he sure as hell was going to do it anyway. He wanted Rick to know that he was here and waiting for him to wake up._

_Daryl was quiet for several minutes, just drawing patterns over Rick's arm when he looked up to the slightly younger man's face again. He looked at him for a few minutes and then spoke again, "We're going to have another baby, Rick. I took the test just before Shane called me," he said, "I haven't told anyone else, just you,"_

_Daryl wished that Rick would say something, but he didn't. He never did._

 

* * *

 

"Carl," Daryl called softy once he saw that Carl had emptied his plate.

Carl looked up at him, "Yeah?" he asked.

"Bedtime, come on," Daryl said, standing up from where he had been sitting beside Lori. He patted Lori and Shane on the shoulder as he passed them, and then helped Carl stand up.

He smiled softly when Carl wrapped an arm around his lower back and yawned as he leaned into him, "Okay," he said.

Daryl chuckled softly, "Looks like you're tired anyway. You usually put up more of a fight," he said as led Carl over to the tent that they and Merle had been staying in.

Carl hummed softly, "I didn't sleep very good last night," he told him.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" Daryl asked as he unzipped the tent and allowed Carl to go inside first.

"Uncle Merle snores," Carl replied, and Daryl followed him inside.

Daryl grinned and watched as Carl moved over to his bed and pulled his pajamas out from under his pillow.

"Is that all?" Daryl asked as he tidied up the tent a bit, especially the dirty clothes and other crap that Merle was leaving everywhere.

"Yep," Carl said, a blatant lie as he pulled his shirt and pants off and started to redress.

Daryl was quiet for a moment, sighing softly to himself and wondering the best way to go about the conversation. He knew it needed to happen. He spent a large portion of his own life bottling up his feelings, and it made him miserable for a long time, and he didn't want Carl to feel the same.

"Merle told me that you're reading the book your dad gave you a few months ago," Daryl said gently after a few minutes, once Carl was dressed and had gotten into his sleeping bag.

It took Carl a few moments to reply, "Yeah," he said, "It's pretty good so far. They were actually making it into a movie next year… before all this happened, you know,"

"A lot has changed in the last month, hasn't it?" Daryl replied.

"Over a month," Carl quickly said.

Daryl started to get underneath his own blankets, he was very much ready to go to sleep. The pregnancy was making him exhausted, which wasn't at all ideal.

"That is true," He said, "Ever since your dad went into his coma, everything's been very different,"

"Yeah," Carl agreed softly, and was quiet for a few moments before he spoke again, "I wish we could have got to say goodbye to him properly," he said, "I know we saw him almost every day, but when Shane saw that he was dead, everything else was already going to crazy, so we couldn't go and see him one last time, we just had to go,"

Daryl scooted in his blankets, so he was laid closer to Carl, "I know, sweetheart, I wish we could have said goodbye too," he whispered, and he smiled sadly when Carl curled up against him. With Carl being ten now, it was getting less and less often that he'd have a cuddle with his dads.

"He would have known the best thing to do," Carl said, his head resting on Daryl's shoulder and his breath fluttered across his neck.

Daryl nodded in agreement, "Yeah, he would have,"

"I miss him," Carl whispered.

"Me too, sweetheart," Daryl said, choking up a little as his eyes watered, "Me too,"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI  
> \- Some dialogue in this chapter is taken from the show.

"Shane, you in the john?" Rick asked when he didn't get a reply after a few moments.

Shane had just given him the flowers, telling him about how everyone had pitched in and that everyone at the station was sending their love. He must have slipped into the small bathroom without Rick noticing.

He rolled his head to the side, and his eyes settled on the blue patterned vase and the flowers inside it. A frown pulled at his lips when he realized the flowers had wilted, old petals sitting on the surface on the small table. But he didn't understand how that could be right, he swore he'd only just seen Shane place them there.

He turned his head to the other side, and his lips parted in surprise when he realized that the time on the clock was frozen. He reached for the click on his finger and then yanked it off, he then pulled at the tubes in his nose as he tried to sit up, grunting softly with the effort, finding his body very weak.

After a few moments, he managed to sit up, stand up, and then he proceeded to fall to the ground in a crumpled heap. He coughed and pulled an IV from his arm.

"Nurse, help," he tried to call, but it came out choked off and weak. He tried several more times before he stood up, and on weak and shaky legs made his way into the bathroom. His throat was dry, and he was desperate for water.

He hesitated a little at the sight of himself in the mirror. He looked pale and weak, and by the quick look at his stomach, he could see he'd lost a lot of muscle tone. He turned on the tap and was relieved to see water come out of it. He immediately leaned down and began slurping at the liquid, almost groaning at how good it tasted.

He was filled with confusion as he opened the door to his hospital room and got a look at the state of the corridor. It was a complete mess, stray beds, old papers, broken glass. It quickly became apparent that there was nobody else around, nobody to help him. He began to walk slowly after looking around in shock for several moments. The lights were flickering, and he made his way to the large flashing exit sign.

He came across a phone on his way and quickly reached for it. He held it to his ear, and dialed Daryl's cell number, breathing heavily as he desperately hoped for it to ring. He got nothing, so he began to rifle through the desk it was sat on. When he found nothing, he continued.

He turned a corner and looked through a glass door. His eyes fell on the body of a woman, what was left of her. Her head was the most intact part of her, all that was left of her body was blood covered bones. She looked like she'd been eaten by a wild animal that had somehow broken into the hospital. She was the only person that he'd seen.

He quickly headed down another corridor, beginning to shake. He slowed when he saw the bullet holes that covered the walls. He was too busy looking at those, and the blood spatters to notice what lied at the end of the hallway until he heard it. The large door, with DON'T OPEN DEAD INSIDE painted on it, was rocking.

He moved a little closer and then started to breathe heavy with fear when he heard the growls coming from inside, and he spun on his heels and moved as fast as he could when long-fingered, pale hands started to push through the gaps.

He managed to find a way out of the hospital through the fire exit, and he winced as he opened the door and was met with the harsh light of the outside, along with the sound of buzzing flies.

He couldn't stop himself from crying as he walked through the parking lot, surrounded by hundreds of decaying bodies on the ground. He looked back at the hospital as he left through the entrance of the lot, and found that it was destroyed, holes in the walls and everything around broken.

He climbed up a hill and paused in shock when he saw the military vehicles that filled another parking lot. It was clear it had been a military camp but was abandoned a long time ago.

He left the carpark and started to walk down the familiar streets of his town, the town he was supposed to Sherriff's deputy of, but it was clearly abandoned. He had never been so confused in his life, the last thing he remembered happening was being shot.

He spotted a bicycle and quickly made his way over to it, it would be quicker than walking, and he wanted to get back to his house as soon as possible, back to his husband and son as quickly as possible. If there were still there, that was, and he had the awful feeling that they weren't.

There was a body by the bike, well half a body as it had no legs. Just as he was lifting the bike up, he heard the same growling that he had heard back in the hospital behind the door. He fell back in surprise and fear when the decaying body rolled over to face him, and outstretched its hands, trying to get to him.

He was still shaking as he got on the bike and started to ride off.

 

* * *

 

_Rick smiled as he looked at his husband. It was early morning, and Rick's alarm had just gone off, but Daryl was apparently so exhausted, that the noise didn't even cause him to stir._

_It was almost too hot under the few covers of their bed, and it didn't help that Daryl was like a furnace even when Rick wasn't laying against him._

_Daryl was fast asleep, the blankets only pulled up to his hips which gave Rick a nice view of his bare upper body. Rick had always loved Daryl's torso; his incredible arms and amazingly broad shoulders, the scars which represented all the pain that he'd been through, and the steps that they'd taken together to be able to overcome it._

_Rick's favorite part would probably be his stomach though. He'd had well-defined abs when they first met, but Daryl had never managed to get them back to that point after he'd carried Carl in a full-term pregnancy. Rick preferred him this way, he liked that he was a little softer in his tummy, only having slight abs under a layer of squish._

_Rick scooted closer to him, and placed a hand on his upper arm, trailing it all the way down to his hip and squeezing as he leaned forward to kiss the tip of his nose. Daryl screwed up his face a little but remained sleeping._

_Rick smiled fondly and moved down to kiss him on the mouth instead, pressing his lips against Daryl's slack ones firmly as he tangled his fingers in his hair. It took a few moments, but Daryl stirred awake beneath him and kissed him back._

_Rick hummed happily, "Good morning, sugar," he greeted him._

_Daryl grunted, "Your breath stinks," he said, and Rick pulled away from him, so he could see his face, and he grinned when he saw that Daryl had kept his eyes closed._

_"Well, yours isn't exactly minty fresh either," He retorted, giving Daryl's thigh a firm squeeze and then pulling the older man closer to him._

_Daryl said something Rick couldn't make out and then rolled on top of Rick, pressing their lips together again and shoving his fingers into his curls. Rick groaned and lifted Daryl so that he was straddling him, and he ran his hands up and down the man's back as he kissed him._

_Rick pulled away when he felt himself starting to get hard in his boxers, "I have to get up for work," he said softly, closing his eyes and sighing when Daryl kissed down his jaw and started sucking at his neck._

_"No," Daryl said, grinding down against him and Rick groaned, "We can be quick," he whispered, nipping at his skin._

_Rick almost considered it, and then groaned in annoyance and rolled Daryl off him, "My alarm already went off a few minutes ago, I got distracted looking at your beautiful face," he said, cupping Daryl's jaw and kissing him again._

_"Call in sick," Daryl suggested, holding him by the back of the neck._

_"I did that last week," Rick replied, he lifted up Daryl's chin and then sucked at his neck over his Adam's apple, "As much as I would rather stay in bed and ravish you, I have to go," he whispered._

_Daryl groaned, but rolled onto his back and opened his eyes, "Don't be late tonight," he said, resting a hand over his stomach as he blinked over at him._

_Rick got up from the bed, despite how much as he wished he could stay in it with his husband, "I shouldn't be," he said as pulled off the boxers he'd slept in and tossed them into the hamper, grinning a little at how Daryl immediately began to check out his ass and dick, "What time are you dropping Carl off at his friend's place this morning?" he asked._

_"Nine," Daryl replied, yawning into his elbow and picking up his phone from his nightstand._

_"Okay," Rick replied and then entered their ensuite._

_He emerged fifteen minutes later, showered, dressed, and shaven. He immediately caught the pout on Daryl's face when he entered the bedroom again._

_"What?" he asked as he did up the last couple of buttons on his shirt._

_"You were finally starting to get a bit of scruff," he grunted._

_Rick smiled and rubbed at his smooth jaw. He knew Daryl liked some stubble, but he liked to keep it clean shaven most of the time. He did normally grow it out for a week and a bit before his and Daryl's anniversary so he would look extra sexy for Daryl when they retired to the bedroom after a romantic day together._

_"Sorry, Sugar," he said and stepped over to him, he leaned down and kissed him softly._

_Daryl hummed against his lips, and smiled up at him when Rick pulled away, "Say goodbye to Carl before you leave," he said._

_Rick nodded, "Of course, I always do," he replied, "I'll see you tonight, I love you," he said._

_"I love you too," Daryl told him, and Rick gave him one last smile before he left the bedroom, closing the door behind him._

_He walked down the hallway to Carl's room, and carefully pushed the door open. Carl's room was a bit of a mess, and he was definitely going to have the boy clean it when he got home tonight. His room had a double bed, many bookshelves, a closet, and a desk with a computer on it, paired with painted blue walls._

_He stepped over to Carl's bed and placed a hand on his back. Carl stirred, and his eyes opened a few moments later, and he blinked up at him, "Hey," Rick greeted him._

_"Morning," Carl said and rubbed at his eyes._

_Rick smiled at him and tucked the blankets up his body a little further, "I'm off to work now, I'll see you tonight, okay?" he said._

_Carl nodded and closed his eyes again, "Okay, see you," he said._

_Rick leaned down and kissed him on the head, brushing his messy hair back from his forehead, "I love you," he said._

_"Love you," Carl replied._

_Rick stroked his hair one more time and then left the room._

_*_

_Rick gasped and swallowed thickly as he tried to suck in breaths. Pain scorched through him, radiating from his chest and he could feel his own blood soaking his shirt._

_He'd been hit. He'd been shot._

_Shane suddenly appeared above him, and he felt the man's hand firm against where he'd been shot._

_He could feel tears welling up in his eyes with how much it hurt, could feel himself getting weaker as he lost more and more blood._

 

* * *

 

It didn't take him long to reach to his and Daryl's house, and he jumped off the bike and left it on the curb, running up to his front door. It was unlocked and slightly ajar, so he shoved it open.

"Daryl!" He shouted as he entered the foyer, looking around desperately. The house was messy, clothes, belongings everywhere, some furniture turned over. Rick could feel himself panicking at the sight, "Carl!" he yelled, searching from room to room.

He walked through the entire house searching for them, but it was no use, they were gone.

He dropped to the wooden living room floor and started to sob. He sobbed and cried for several minutes, tears streaming down his face and snot dripping from his nose.

He managed to calm down after a few minutes, and he tapped his hand against the floor, "Is this real? Am I here?" he whispered. He started sobbing again and hitting himself in the face, "Wake up," he whimpered.

He ended up outside again, sitting and staring out at the street in front of him as he sat on his and Daryl's front lawn. He spotted someone walking down the road a few minutes later and raised his hand to wave, but they didn't seem to see him.

He heard the footsteps behind him too late, and just as he turned around, he was met with a shovel to his face. He fell back and groaned, after a few moments he realized that he'd been hit by a boy around Carl's age.

"Carl?" he whispered.

"Dad! Dad, I got one!" He was shouting, and Rick turned his head to see another man was running towards them. He stopped briefly at the man Rick had seen earlier, and Rick's eyes widened when he shot him in the head.

He looked up at the obvious father and son confused as they spoke about something, and then Rick had a gun pointed to his head as the father asked about the bandaged wrapped around his chest.

"What?" Rick asked, confused as he stared down the barrel of the gun, beginning to feel dizzy.

"What kind of wound?" he repeated, and Rick just blinked at him, "You answer me, damn you. What's your wound? You tell me, or I will kill you," he hissed.

Rick promptly passed out.

 

* * *

 

Rick was filled with confusion as he joined the father and son at the table. After they'd knocked him out, they'd taken him inside, and the father tended to his wound, and he was now being fed.

The father had insisted on asking Rick if he'd been bitten and was now talking about things in the street and that the man Rick had seen him shoot wasn't a man but a 'walker,' whatever that meant.

He knew the house they were in; the owners had been friends of his and Daryl's. The windows were covered with blankets and curtains, and candles were lit around so that they were able to see.

After a brief pause to pray (which Rick wasn't all that happy about as he and Daryl were very firmly, not religious. Rick hadn't really cared one way or the other before he met Daryl, but after Daryl shared what his life had been like when he lived with his father, he decided that if there were a god, they wouldn't of let Daryl be treated as cruelly as he was, no matter how much sin there was in the world.) they began to eat.

Rick began to eat eagerly, he was starving. He didn't know how long he'd been in the coma, how long it had been since he ate.

"Hey Mister, do you even know what's going on?" The father asked, barely giving Rick enough time to eat a bite.

"I woke up today in the hospital and came home, that's all I know," he replied.

"But you know about the dead people, right?"

"Yeah, I saw a lot of that, out in the parking lot, on the loading trucks," he replied, a little annoyed because he just wanted to eat his damn food.

The father cut him off, "No, not the ones they put down, the ones they didn't. The walkers," Rick met his eyes, and he became even more confused, "Like the one I shot today, because he'd of ripped into you, tried to eat you. Take off some flesh at least," he said, and Rick squinted at him, "I guess if this is the first time you're hearing of it, well, I know how it must sound,"

"They're out there now? In the street?" Rick asked, glancing towards the blocked windows and trying to process what he had just been told. It sounded insane, it sounded like something out of a movie that Carl would have dragged him and Daryl to see.

"Yeah," he replied, nodding, "They get more active after dark sometimes. Maybe it's the cool air, or hell, maybe it's me firing that gun today, but we'll be fine as long as we stay quiet, they'll probably wander off by morning. There is one thing I do know, don't get bit," he said, and then pointed to Rick's stomach, "I saw your bandage, and that's what we were afraid of. Bites kill you, the fever burns you out, but then, after a while, you come back,"

Rick looked down at his plate again, and it sounded crazier and crazier with each new word the father said.

"Seen it happen," the son said a few moments later, his voice quiet and Rick met his dark eyes.

They finished dinner in mostly silence after that, the pair seemed to respect that Rick needed to be able to process what he'd just been told.

A make-shift bed was made up for him to sleep on, and Rick was currently sat on it with his back against the couch.

"Carl, he your son?" the father asked after they'd been sat in silence for several minutes. Rick looked over to where he was sat beside his son on their own beds, "You said his name today," he said, shrugging.

Rick paused for a moment, and then nodded, "He's a little younger than your boy, he's ten," he answered.

"And he's with his mother?"

Rick looked at the man a moment and considered his next words for a moment. It was something he and Daryl always had to do, try to judge a person's character as best they could before they came out in any form, they liked to stay away from homophobia as much as they could, especially since they had Carl. He didn't need to hear his fathers being ridiculed simply because of who they were.

The man raised an eyebrow at him in question, waiting for him to continue.

"I hope he's with his father," Rick said after a few moments, staring the man right in the eye.

"Your husband?"

Rick nodded, "Yeah," he replied.

They were interrupted by the man's son, "Dad?"

"Hey,"

"Did you ask him?"

The man laughed and glanced to Rick, "Your gunshot. We got a little bet going, and my boy says you're a bank robber,"

Rick laughed, and it reminded him of the times when Carl was a bit younger when he'd come home from work, and he'd be all excited to hear about what bad guys Rick had fought that day.

Rick decided to humor the boy, "Yeah, that's me, deadly as Dillinger Kapow," he said, and smirked as he got more comfortable, "Sheriff's Deputy," he added.

The father nodded at him, "Aha," he said.

They were once again interrupted, but this time it was the sound of a blaring car alarm coming from outside.

After calming his son and getting rid of the light, the man moved to the window to carefully look out, and Rick joined him.

Rick looked out, watched the walkers wandering through the streets, "That noise, won't it bring more of them?" he asked after a moment.

"Nothing we can do about it now, just have to wait 'em out until morning,"

"She's here," the boy suddenly said.

"Don't look," his father immediately replied, "Get away from the windows,"

The boy ran to his bed and began to cry, his father following him to try and give him comfort and keep him quiet.

Rick moved to the front door and watched as a walker woman moved clumsily up the steps, and he realized that she looked like the boy, and must be his mother.

Rick sat back down, and Morgan began to tell him the story of how his wife had died.

As Rick tried to go to sleep, he was filled with dread as he thought of his husband and son being walkers. Creatures in the shell of his husband and son, but nothing really left of who they were.

 

* * *

  

After killing his first walker, along with a few others that still roamed the street after the previous night, they ended up back in Rick and Daryl's house.

"My husband and son, they're alive," Rick said as they walked through the house, "At least they were when they left,"

"How do you know? By the looks of this place…" Morgan said as Rick had learned his name to be.

"I found empty drawers in the bedroom," Rick replied, "They packed some clothes, not a lot, but enough to travel,"

"You know anyone could have broken in here and stole some clothes, right?"

"You see the framed photos on the walls?" Rick asked, raising his brows as he looked around his own home, "Neither do I. Some random thief wouldn't have done that, my husband did that," he said, and then walked to a nearby cabinet and pulled it open, one that Daryl had made himself, "Photo albums, pictures, things of sentimental value, they're all gone,"

Morgan started to laugh, "My wife, same thing. Here I am packing survival gear, and she's grabbing photo albums," he huffed loudly, and Rick's lips twitched in a soft smile.

"They're in Atlanta, I bet," Duane said, stepping a little closer.

'That's right," Morgan said.

"Why there?" Rick asked, stepping closer and tilting his head.

Morgan looked at him, "Refugee center, huge one they said before the broadcasts stopped; military protection, food, shelter. They told people to go there, said it would be safest,"

"Plus, they got that disease place," Duane chimed in.

"Center for disease control," Morgan explained, "Said they were working out how to solve this thing,"

Rick walked away and into the kitchen, grabbing his set of keys for the station.

 

* * *

 

_Rick smiled as he stood in their driveway and looked up at their new house. After living in a small apartment for four years, he and Daryl were excited to be moving into a home that they had fallen in love with. It was in the same neighborhood that both of their jobs were in, and only a twenty-minute drive from the woods so that Daryl could easily go hunting, and they could go on the camping trips that they loved so much._

_They'd gotten married six months previous and spent their honeymoon out in a rented secluded cabin in the woods not only to save money but because they really did love the woods that much._

_They'd been staying at Shane and Lori's in their spare room while they set up the house, taking all of their old belongings from the apartment, and also building all the new furniture when it arrived, decorating the house until it felt like a home for them. Today was the day they officially moved in; everything was finished and ready to go apart from a few pieces that hadn't been delivered yet, and some little changes they would make here and there._

_Daryl was inside packing away the groceries they had just bought, and Rick had come back outside to close the trunk of the car as his hands had been full earlier when he carried in the last load of groceries._

_"Rick!"_

_He smiled at the sound of Daryl calling him from inside the home and slammed the trunk closed before jogging back to the front door that he'd left open and making his way through the house._

_"Help me, you lazy ass," Daryl said when he heard Rick enter._

_Rick laughed softly, "Sorry sugar," he said, pecking his husband's cheek and then reaching into one of the grocery bags._

_They flopped down onto the large couch in their den when they finished with the groceries. Daryl leaned back against Rick and Rick wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pressed his lips against the man's temple._

_Rick sighed happily and leaned his head back against the back of the couch and closed his eyes, "I love our house," he said softly._

_Daryl chuckled softly and hummed in agreement, "Me too," he whispered, "So much better than our apartment, so much more room to make it feel like outs,"_

_"Mhm," Rick said, "And in a few years, we're going to be sitting on that porch swing in the backyard watching our kid run around like they have all the energy in the world," he told the other man, smiling as he thought of what it would be like to have a mini human that was half him and half Daryl._

_Daryl was quiet and a little stiff against him, "Well, maybe not a few years," he said._

_Rick opened his eyes and lifted his head, he looked down at his husband and met his eyes, "You want to wait longer than a few years?" he asked softly. He wasn't disappointed, he didn't mind if Daryl wanted to wait a little longer._

_Daryl laughed softly, "That's not what I meant," he said._

_"What do you mean then?" Rick asked, his brows pulled together in a confused frown._

_Daryl met his eyes and reached up, he placed his hand on the back of Rick's neck and brushed his thumb over his skin. His lips were quirked in a small smile, and he looked happy, "I meant, it might be a little less than a few years because kid's start running when they're like two, and I'm already pregnant…"_

_Rick's eyes widened, and his lips parted in surprise, "You're pregnant?" he whispered a few moments later._

_Daryl looked like he wanted to laugh at the expression on his face, "Yeah, Rick, I'm pregnant," he confirmed._

_Rick laughed softly, and his lips spread in a smile, "Oh my god," he whispered, "You're pregnant?" he asked again, and Daryl nodded, "We're going to be dads?"_

_Daryl laughed again and nodded, he moved both of his hands to cup Rick's cheeks, "Yes, Rick. I'm pregnant, I'm one hundred percent sure, I took six tests, and yes that does mean we're going to be dad's,"_

_Rick surged forward and pressed his lips against Daryl's and kissed him passionately, and Daryl kissed him back with just as much intensity. After a few minutes, Rick laid Daryl down over the couch and dropped to his knees on the floor. Daryl snorted as Rick pushed his shirt up, and then pressed his face against Daryl's stomach._

_"You idiot," he said, threading his fingers into his curls._

_Rick smiled and kissed Daryl's bare stomach over and over. He turned his head so that he could look up at Daryl, "God, I love you so much," he whispered._

_"I love you," Daryl immediately replied._

_Rick kissed Daryl's stomach again, "Hi baby," he whispered, "I can't wait to meet you,"_

 

* * *

 

"Are you sure you won't come along?" Rick asked as he and Morgan began loading up his cruiser, Duane doing the same with his and Morgan's car. They'd gone to the station and had hit the jackpot with the guns and ammunition that still remained there, along with some of the food and water in the kitchens.

Rick intended to go to Atlanta to the rumored refugee camp, hoping that where he would find Daryl and Carl, and Lori and Shane. Morgan had decided he was going to stay behind.

"A few more days," Morgan said, running a hand over his short hair, "By then Duane will know how to shoot, and I won't be so rusty,"

Rick stepped back to the car, and grabbed one of the walkie-talkies that he'd placed on the passenger seat, "You got one battery," Rick told Morgan as he handed it to him, "I'll turn mine on a few minutes every day at dawn, you get up there, that's how you find me,"

"You think ahead," Morgan said.

"Can't afford not to, not anymore,"

"Listen, one thing; they may not seem like much one at a time, but in a group, all riled up and hungry, man you watch your ass," Morgan told him, sounding dead serious.

Rick nodded, "You too," he said and shook Morgan's hand.

"You're a good man, Rick. I hope you find your husband and son,"

Rick smiled at him, and then shook Duane's hand who'd appeared beside them, "See you, Duane, you take care of your old man,"

"Yes, sir," Duane said with a playful grin.

Morgan's eye caught something behind him, and Rick turned when he heard the growl of a walker. He turned and found it was one of his colleagues, "Leon Bessi, didn't think much of him, careless and dumb, but can't leave him like this," he said.

"You know they'll hear it,"

"Best not to be here when they show up," Rick said and began to make his way over to the walker.

"Let's go, son," Morgan said and led Duane to his car.

Rick fired the shot.

 

* * *

 

After leaving the station, Rick stopped briefly to put down the walker he had first seen when he'd taken what he suspected was her bike, but then continued on his way to Atlanta.

He called in on the walkie-talkie on an emergency line as he got closer to Atlanta, hoping to hear back from the refugee center, or anyone. He had no luck, and when his car ran out of gas, he had no choice but to ride an abandoned horse that he had found into the city.

That also hadn't gone to plan.

The city was overrun, and he and the horse were quickly surrounded. The walkers took the horse to the ground, and Rick winced at its noises of pain as the creatures began to devour it. He knew Daryl would have been devastated if he saw it, the man loved horses, absolutely loved them.

Rick had no choice but to scramble under a nearby tank, one of the many military vehicles that he'd seen in the city. The walkers followed him, the horse not big enough of a feast and he felt fear bubble in his stomach as they grabbed and pulled at his feet.

He ended up flat on his back, and he let out a gasp when he saw that the hatch to the inside of the tank was open. He reached up and pulled himself through the small hole, and slammed it closed behind him. There was another man in the tank, someone of military personnel and clearly dead. Rick watched him for a moment, panting to get his breath back and wiping at the sweat dripping down his face.

The walker growled itself to life, and Rick made the stupid, split-second decision to shoot it instead of using Daryl's hunting knife on his belt that he'd gotten from their house; it was the only one he'd left behind, probably because he simply forgot to pack the knife he kept under his pillow.

Rick groaned, and his vision blurred, ringing erupting in his ears after the shot had gone off. Once he returned to normal, he noticed that the top hatch was still open, and he quickly climbed to it. He stuck his top half out of the tank and looked around at the grim situation that he'd gotten himself into.

He was surrounded by walkers, and they quickly began to climb the tank when they saw him. He allowed himself to look for just a second longer, noticing that he had dropped his bag of guns among the walkers. He cursed to himself but was then forced back inside of the tank.

He sat back down and realized that he may have saved himself from death by walkers, but he was now going to slowly die of starvation or dehydration, or he could run out of air; never knowing if his family was alive.

He loaded his gun and prepared to press it against his own temple, but then he heard the crackling of a radio to his left.

"Hey, you," A man's voice said, "Dumbass, yeah, you in the tank, cozy in there?"

Rick stared at it in shock, unable to believe his luck.


	3. Chapter 3

Daryl sighed as he scrubbed at Carl's clothes against a washboard. He was down at the quarry where all the laundry was done but sat away from the women who were also washing. Carol had offered to wash Carl's clothes for him, and usually, Daryl would accept as he had other things to do, but Carl had made a right mess of them, and Daryl felt bad asking someone else to do it.

Carl had been running around with Louis, Miranda, and Sophia, the other children of the camp. They were misbehaving and being silly as they darted through tents and climbed trees, and Carl had ended up slipping over in a patch of mud and made his clothes absolutely filthy.

Daryl understood that they were just kids, and it's what kids did, but he was frustrated because Carl didn't have a large wardrobe of clothes at his disposal anymore.

Daryl, along with the other parents, had sent the children to their respective tents; and Carl had stomped off muttering under his breath. Daryl was certain the boy would be talking about how awful of a father he was to Shane.

"How's it going?" A voice asked softly, and he looked up to find Carol standing by him; she was a quiet woman, scared of her husband and every other man in the camp except for him and Glenn. Glenn wasn't intimidating, and very friendly, so she never appeared to be phased by him, but Daryl knew how she acted around him at first. He went to a great effort to show her that he wasn't going to cause her any harm.

Daryl huffed, "I miss my washing machine," he grunted.

She laughed softly, "Me too," she said, "I can finish up if you want to go and check on Carl?" she asked, having seen that Carl had been moody.

"I'm almost done, but I'd appreciate it if you hung them out for me?"

Carol nodded, "Sure,"

"Thanks, I'll bring them over," he said, and she gave him another small smile before joining the other women who were sitting around chatting.

Daryl finished up a few minutes later and left the clothes with Carol before climbing back up to the main part of the camp and making his way through it to his, Carl's and Merle's tent. Merle, along with Glenn, Andrea, and T-Dog had gone into the city to try and scavenge for more supplies, and Daryl was trying to ignore how anxious he felt about his brother being back in that place.

Daryl found the tent unzipped as he approached it, and he could hear Carl, and sure enough, Shane inside talking. Daryl loved Shane, he did, the man was a brother to Rick and a very good friend to him, but sometimes it really did get on Daryl's nerves how involved with Carl he liked to be, sometimes Daryl just wanted to yell at him that Carl wasn't his son.

He stepped inside the tent and found a red-eyed, puffy-faced Carl sitting on his bed with his knees drawn to his chest, and Shane sitting in front of him. Both looked up at him, and Shane quickly stood up.

"I'll see you later, bud," Shane said, reaching out to ruffle Carl's hair before slapping Daryl on the shoulder as he left the tent.

Carl glared up at him, and Daryl sighed as he sat down, "Hey," he said. Carl didn't say anything, so Daryl continued, "Tell me why you're upset," he said.

Carl huffed a little, and picked at the clean jeans he'd put on, "I didn't do anything wrong," he said softly, refusing to meet his eyes, "Not like I meant to slip over,"

"I know that," Daryl said softly, "And I'm sorry I got frustrated, but you gotta understand Carl, we ain't got wardrobes full of clean clothes anymore, dryers or washing machines; it's a lot harder to keep things clean for you. So, you've got to be a bit more careful," he told the boy as he scooted a bit closer to him. Carl nodded and sniffled before wiping at his wet eyes, and Daryl frowned. He reached out himself and wiped his thumb under Carl's eye, "Come on, no need for that," he whispered.

Carl rested his head against his chest and sagged against him. Daryl was surprised at how upset Carl was, and he knew it wasn't just because Daryl had sent him to the tent earlier.

"The world's not going back to the way it was, is it?" Carl asked after a few minutes.

Daryl closed his eyes at the harsh question, and squeezed Carl a little tighter, "I don't think so, Carl," he whispered, and he could feel the tears in his own eyes as he held his son and thought of the baby in his stomach, and the world that he'd have to raise them in.

 

* * *

 

 

_Daryl checked that the doors and windows of the house were locked one more time before he made his way up the stairs to the master bedroom where Carl was already sleeping._

_He entered quietly, stroked a hand over his son's hair and kissed his forehead before sitting down on the end of the bed and turning the TV on, making sure the volume wasn't loud enough to wake Carl._

_The news channel that all of the TVs in their home had been on permanently for the last couple of days quickly came up, and Daryl bit his lip as he watched a news reporter in a studio advertise the refugee camp in Atlanta as a video of the dead people being shot repeatedly in the chests by military personnel played on the corner of the screen._

_Daryl felt uneasy as he looked at them, dead, savage, cannibalistic people with only one thing on their minds: eat. Daryl watched as the news reporter disappeared, and the entire screen was taken up by the flesh-eating dead creatures. He watched as one of them, a woman, was shot continuously in the chest and stomach, but resumed walking towards the military personnel and didn't fall. Then, a bullet connected with its head, and it finally fell to the ground in a crumpled heap and didn't move._

_"Got the feeling I'm gonna need to remember that," he whispered to himself, and then he frowned when the TV suddenly turned off, along with lamp that he had on._

_He stood up and stepped over to the light switch and flicked it. He huffed in annoyance when nothing happened, and the room remained dark. It was extremely worrying, but it was also late, and he needed to get some sleep. He'd only just done a check of all the doors and windows, so he didn't feel the need to do so again._

_He joined Carl in the bed (since all the craziness had started a few weeks ago, he'd been keeping all the doors and windows locked and having Carl sleep in his room due to the fear he had for the walking dead), and he tucked himself and his son under them. He laid close to Carl but didn't cuddle him because he knew that it would probably wake the boy up, and he'd be shoved at and have something along the lines of 'go away, weirdo' grumbled at him._

_He could see the outline of Carl's face in the dim light from the window, the only one he hadn't shut the curtains on. It had been two weeks since Rick was shot, and there still hadn't been any signs that he was going to wake up; and with everything that was happening across the world now, Daryl feared what was going to happen._

_Daryl rubbed a hand over his face and sighed heavily. It was terrifying, he was terrified. He kept telling himself that everything was going to be okay, that the government would get control of whatever the spreading disease was, and things would go back to normal; no matter how much that didn't appear to be the case._

_He shifted a little closer to Carl so that he could feel the boy's warmth against him. He laid a hand over his stomach, and that was a whole other factor that he had to keep in mind. He still hadn't told anyone about the baby, well, he'd told Rick, but Rick was unconscious and unable to hear him, so it didn't exactly count. Technically the woman at the local pharmacy could know though, as after he'd had a few days to process what had happened to Rick, he'd gone and bought prenatal vitamins (which he had actually gone back and bought several more months' worth of as in a moment of panic)._

_*_

_Daryl jumped awake as a loud banging noise met his ears, and moments later, Carl did the same._

_"Dad, what is that?" Carl whispered, eyes wide with fear as he tightly gripped Daryl's arm._

_"I don't know," Daryl replied, stroking his hand through Carl's hair and kissing his head quickly before standing up from the bed._

_He looked around the room, dim light was flooding through the window, and by the analog clock that hung on the wall, he could see that it was just after five in the morning. Fear bubbled in his stomach as he quickly stepped into the closet and pushed hanging coats to the side to reveal the small safe they kept._

_"Dad what are you doing?" Carl asked, fear present in his voice._

_"Stay quiet," Daryl told him and punched in the combination to the safe, the banging had stopped, but he wasn't taking any chances. He pulled out the handgun from the safe and loaded it before going back into the bedroom._

_Carl's eyes widened when he saw the gun, "What's happening?" he whispered._

_"It'll be okay," Daryl said softly and squeezed his shoulder, "I need you to get in the closet, and hide okay?" he said._

_Carl shook his head and stood from the bed, throwing his arms around Daryl, "No, stay with me," he whimpered. Carl had seen what had been on the TV, saw what was happening. Daryl understood why he was scared._

_Daryl shushed him and cupped the back of his head, "Shh, it's okay. I'll be back in just a minute, I need you to listen to what I say, and go and hide, okay?" he said firmly, tilting Carl's head up, so he looked him in the eye._

_Carl's eyes watered, but he nodded, and stepped away from Daryl and then into the closest. He looked at him for a moment, then shut the door._

_Daryl took a deep breath and then started to make his way out of their bedroom and towards the front door. He crept silently and looked through the peephole when he reached it. He sighed and rolled his eyes when he saw it was Shane and Lori on his porch, both looked scared, and Shane was holding a gun._

_He unlocked the door, and pulled it open, "You couldn't have just fucking called me?" he hissed, then was surprised at how quickly the pair jumped inside._

_"Phones aren't working man," Shane said, looking around the house, "We've got to go. We've got to get to that refugee center in Atlanta,"_

_Daryl frowned, "I know things are bad man, and that's what I would do, but Rick's here, and I can't risk Carl being out there," he told them._

_Only then did Daryl notice that both appeared to have been crying._

_"Shane," he said, forcing the man to look at him._

_Shane was quiet for a moment, and then took a deep and shaky breath, "Lori, go and get Carl packed," he said, and Lori nodded and quickly headed down the hall to the master bedroom, (she knew that Carl had been staying with Daryl as they kept each other, along with Shane, updated over the phone)._

_Daryl blinked after, "He's hiding in the closet, tell him it's you, and he'll come out," he told her, and then turned back to Shane, "I can't go,"_

_"Daryl," Shane whispered, "I had Lori do most of the packing for us while I was at the hospital, and then we came here when we were finished," he said, and paused for a moment. Daryl could see that his hands were shaking, "The hospital… it was completely abandoned, patients were dead in their beds, everything left unattended… I checked on Rick, Daryl," he trailed off._

_Daryl's lips parted, and he could feel the tears beginning to spring in his eyes, "No," he whispered. He knew where Shane was headed._

_Shane nodded, and looked like he was about ready to cry too, "I'm sorry… I put my head to his chest… he was gone, Daryl," he said, and Daryl let out a quiet sob, "The dead ones started coming around the corners, and I had to get out of there. I closed his door, and they can't open it so they won't get to him,"_

_Daryl felt like he couldn't breathe, and Shane moved him into the living room and had him sit down on their large couch. Shane sat down beside him and proceeded to wrap his arms around him._

_"I'm so sorry, Daryl," he whispered, "But we have to go, it's not safe here anymore. We need to do what's best for Carl," he said, and Daryl nodded because he knew he was right. The only thing that had stopped Daryl from going to the refugee camp earlier was that he couldn't bear to leave Rick alone._

_"I know," Daryl said, lifting his head and wiping at his eyes, "Don't tell, Carl,"_

_Shane shook his head, "Of course," he said, "Where's Merle?"_

_Daryl pointed towards the closed door of the spare bedroom that Merle had been staying in, "Could sleep through a tornado," he said._

_Shane nodded, "You just sit here a minute, I'll go get him up," he said, and Daryl nodded._

_*_

_There was a time when Daryl thought the best sound he'd ever heard was Carl's crying. That had been when he was first born, and just seconds after he'd delivered him, the doctors had realized that he wasn't breathing. Daryl had sobbed as he watched the doctors try and get him to breathe, and Rick had held him in his arms as he cried too. It took over a minute, but Carl began to cry, a loud scream that ripped from his throat and filled the room. Then, that had been the best sound Daryl ever heard._

_But now, he was sat in a tent with the boy, in a camp that had been set up by the people on the highway to Atlanta that had decided it was no longer safe to go to Atlanta after seeing the bombs be dropped on it. He'd just told Carl that his father was dead, that Shane had been at the hospital before they left and saw that he had died, and Carl was wailing._

_It was loud enough that the entire camp could hear it, and he knew that Merle and Shane were patrolling the perimeter to make sure that no walkers (as everyone had begun to call them) were attracted to the noise._

_Carl was sat with his knees pulled up to his chest, and tears were streaming down his face, his face was flushed red, and his eyes were swollen, snot dripping from his nose and onto his lips._

_Daryl was crying too, he'd never seen his son so upset and in so much pain before, and he couldn't stop the cause of his pain. He couldn't change that his husband, Carl's father was dead. He couldn't bring him back._

_"Carl," Daryl said weakly, trying his absolute best to comfort his son; he was now hiccupping and struggling to breathe, "Baby, try and calm down, or you're going to throw up," he said, and Carl finally let him take him into his arms after having completely ignored his touch for the last half an hour._

_Carl collapsed against him, and Daryl instructed him to breathe in time with his own breaths to help him calm down. They spent a few minutes doing so until Carl was calm and quiet against him, "It's not fair," he whimpered._

_Daryl closed his eyes and held back his own sob, as he held Carl tighter and stroked his hand down his hair, "I know it isn't, baby, I know," he whispered, and he hadn't called Carl baby to his face in over a year, but it seemed appropriate given the situation._

_Carl eventually fell asleep in Daryl's arms, having completely exhausted himself, and Daryl laid him down and tucked him in._

 

* * *

 

 

"Dad, dad, wake up,"

Daryl blinked himself awake at the sound of his son's voice, and he gave him a soft smile when his eyes settled on him.

"Morning, buddy," Daryl greeted him and proceeded to yawn into his elbow.

"Morning," Carl replied, giving him a small smile, "Shane said I should let you sleep in for a bit, but breakfast is ready now," he told him.

Daryl chuckled softly, "I think Shane was right," he said, as he would have gotten around eight hours sleep instead of the usual five, and he was still exhausted.

"Dale's finally cooked up that bacon he had! There's enough for everyone to have some!" Carl said excitedly, and then reached for Daryl's arms and tugged at them.

Daryl chuckled and stood up, "You go out, okay? I'll just get dressed, and I'll be out," he said.

Carl nodded and quickly trotted out of the tent. Daryl smiled, it was good to see that Carl was slowly getting a bit more like his old self.

Daryl took a few minutes to stretch and rub at his sore back before he got dressed and proceeded to leave the tent.

He was immediately met with the strong scent of bacon cooking bacon from over by the campfire, and bile rose in his throat immediately. He moved further into the trees so fast that he didn't even notice that Lori and Carol had been talking not far off from his tent and had seen him.

He was in the middle of vomiting up his dinner from the previous night when he heard the footsteps behind him, and he felt cold fingers against his neck pull his hair back from his face. He knew it was Lori because he knew that she always had ridiculously cold fingers.

Daryl finished up a few moments later and wiped at his mouth as he turned around. He was greeted with the sight of two very concerned women.

"Are you alright?" Carol asked softly, and he flinched a little when she lifted her hand to feel his forehead.

Daryl nodded, "Yeah, it's just the smell of the bacon," he grunted, without properly realizing what he'd just said, and he turned to spit.

Lori laughed, "What? Rick used to always say that one of your favorite smells in the world is cooking bacon and that the only time you couldn't stand it was when you were pregnant with Carl," she said, and both her and Carol seemed to come to the realization as soon as she had finished speaking.

Daryl coughed awkwardly, "Well…" he trailed off.

Lori blinked at him and stepped closer to place her hand on his arm, "Oh my god,"

"I didn't know that you had carried Carl," Carol said softly, and Daryl wasn't surprised; nobody in the camp apart from him, Lori and Shane knew that he had carried Carl. It wasn't that Daryl was ashamed of it or refused to tell people, he'd do so if they asked, it's just most people automatically assumed that Carl had had a mother and that she had been the one to carry him.

Daryl hummed, "Yeah, my husband knocked me up just after we got married," he said, laughing softly. At that point, Daryl hadn't been on the pill, and he and Rick used condoms for protection, but one night after several beers they simply forgot to use one.

she whispered, "How far along are you?" she asked.

Daryl found his eyes tearful, "Two months, roughly," he whispered, "I found out the day Rick was shot. Shane called and told me 'bout fifteen minutes after I'd taken it,"

"So, Rick never knew?" Lori asked.

Daryl was really on the edge of crying now, "Well, I told him, when I was in the hospital with him," he started, and he'd never seen so Lori so sad before, "Some people say that people in comas can hear what's going on around them…"

"Daryl," Carol was the one to get his attention, "I'm so sorry to hear about your husband," she said softly, "This isn't exactly the ideal time or place to be pregnant, so I hope you know that everyone here will support you,"

Daryl smiled gratefully at her, she was just so damn lovely and deserved better than what her piece of shit husband gave her, "Thank you," he said.

Lori gave his arm a firm squeeze, "You go get back in your tent where you can't smell the bacon, and I'll bring you something else to eat," she said.

Daryl nodded, deciding that sounded like a wonderful idea because he was very close to throwing up again.

Carol helped him back to his tent and told him that she'd bring his, Carl's and Merle's laundry up later, but had to go and watch her daughter right now.

As Daryl laid in the tent waiting for Lori to bring him some food, he wished his husband could be the one getting it for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Carl is so cute I love him


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI  
> \- some dialogue taken from the show

Rick stared at the radio for a few moments, and then the voice came again, "Hey, you alive in there?"

He jumped forward and groaned when he smacked his head on one of the bars of the tank. He reached for the radio, "Hello? Hello?" he said desperately.

There was a sigh, "Oh, there you are. You had me wondering,"

"Where are you?" Rick asked quickly, and he could feel the sweat dripping down his face.

"Outside,"

"Can you see me right now?"

"Yeah, I can see you. You're surrounded by walkers," he said, "That's the bad news,"

Rick raised an eyebrow, "There's good news?"

"No," was the short answer he received.

"Listen," Rick started, "Whoever you are, I don't mind telling you I'm a little concerned in here,"

"Oh man, you should see from over here. You would be having a major freak out," he replied, and it sounded to Rick that the man was barely older than a teenager.

Rick rolled his eyes, "You got any advice for me?"

"Yeah, I'd say make a run for it," He said, and that sounded just fantastic.

"That's it? Make a run for it?"

"My way's not as dumb as it sounds, you've got eyes on the outside out here," he said, and that was true, "There's one geek left up on the tank, but the others have gone down and joined the feeding frenzy where the horse went down," he told him, and Rick felt guilty at the mention of the horse, "You with me so far?"

"So far," Rick confirmed.

"Okay, the street on the other side of the tank is less crowded, if you move now while they're distracted, you've got a chance. You got ammo?"

"In that duffle bag I dropped out there, and guns. Can I get to it?" He asked he couldn't really afford to lose that bag.

"Forget the bag, it's not an option," The man said immediately, "What do you have on you?"

"Hang on," Rick replied, dropping the radio and scrambling to check his gun, once he did that, he moved over to the dead military guy and found a grenade. He tucked it into his pocket and then went back to the radio, "One clip; fifteen rounds," he told him.

"Make them count," he said quickly, and Rick was relieved that he was still there waiting for him, "Jump of the right side of the tank, and keep going that direction. There's an alley up the street maybe fifty yards, be there,"

Rick paused for a moment, "Hey, what's your name?" he asked.

The man sounded frustrated, "Have you been listening? You're running out of time,"

Rick dropped the radio, reached for a shovel hanging on the wall, and then opened to top latch of the tank and climbed out, taking out the one walker that was already there. He started to run down the street he'd been directed to and began to shoot at the walkers that came at him. There was a movement to the side of him, and he quickly pointed his gun.

"Whoa, not dead!" The familiar voice from the tank yelled as Rick pointed his gun at his face, "Come on, come on!" he shouted and started to run down the alleyway.

They ran down the alley until they reached a ladder, and the man began to climb up it, and Rick quickly followed behind him. They stopped on the platform high up, and they both panted to get their breaths back.

"Nice moves there Clint Eastwood, you the new Sherriff?" he asked after a few moments, "Come riding in to clean up the town?" he sounded very sarcastic, and he seemed like the kind of person that Daryl would get along with.

Rick looked at him, he'd been right about him being young as he looked no older than twenty-one.

"It wasn't my intention," Rick panted.

"Yeah, whatever, yeehaw. You're still a dumbass,"

Rick stood straight and faced the man, he held his hand out, "Rick, thanks,"

"Glenn," he said and shook his hand, "You're welcome,"

Then they noticed that the walkers were somehow managing to climb up the ladder. They both looked up, to where the ladder extended up the wall of the building and Glenn grabbed at the rails as he met his eyes.

"On the bright side, it'll be the fall that kills us," he said, squinting from the sun shining into his eyes, "I'm a glass half full kind of guy,"

Rick chuckled softly and followed him.

They were on the roof not long after, Rick allowing Glenn to lead him to wherever they were going.

"You the one who barricaded the alley?" Rick asked.

"Someone did, I guess when the city got overrun," he said, "Whoever did it thought how many geeks could get through,"

"Back at the tank, why'd you stick your neck out for me?" he asked as they opened a hatch on top of the roof that led down into the building they were on.

Glenn almost smirked at him, "Call it foolish naïve hope," he said as he dropped his pack down the hatch and climbed onto the ladder, "That if I'm ever up shit creek, somebody might do the same for me," he explained, "I guess that makes me an even bigger dumbass than you," he finished and then began descending down the ladder.

Rick climbed down also and shut the hatch behind him. It didn't take too long for them to be on flat ground, and Glenn began running. They were soon outside and going down a stairwell, and Rick heard Glenn begin to speak when he pulled out a walkie-talkie.

"I'm back, I got a guest. Plus, four geeks in the alley," he said when they both got to the bottom of the stairs, they paused at the sight of the walkers.

It only took a few seconds for two guys wearing protective padding and helmets to come running out of a nearby door with baseball bats. Glenn continued when the men started to take out the walkers.

They ran inside a new building, and Rick was met with the sight of a couple of other people, as the others came in behind him. He was immediately shoved up against a desk of some sort by a woman with blonde hair.

"You son of a bitch," she hissed, "We outa kill you," she told him as she pointed her gun at his face and held him by his shirt.

"Chill out Andrea, just back off," One of the men who had taken down the walkers said.

"Ease up, come on," Another woman said.

That seemed to anger Andrea even more, "We're dead because of this stupid asshole," she said, shaking her head as she looked at him with pure rage in her eyes.

The man who'd spoken earlier stepped up behind her, "Andrea, I said back off," he said firmly.

She listened to him after a moment, and tears filled her eyes as she stepped back, "We're dead, all of us, because of you," she said.

"I don't understand," Rick said softly.

The man who'd calmed Andrea, Rick thinks he heard someone call him Morales, grabbed him by the arm, "Look," he started as they all began to walk again, "We came into the city to scavenge supplies, you know what the key to scavenging is? Surviving," he began, and he didn't seem so happy with him either, "You know what the key to surviving is? Sneaking in and out. Not shooting up the street," he finished, and they came to a stop in a department store surrounded by clothes.

Rick's lips parted as he looked out the large glass windows and saw all of the walkers that were piled up against them.

"You just rang the dinner bell," Andrea said.

"Get the picture now?" Morales asked, and then they moved further back into the store where they couldn't be seen. "Hey T-Dog, try and see if you can reach the others," he said.

Rick watched as the other man who had taken down the walkers, pulled out a radio.

"Others?" Rick asked, "The refugee center?"

"Yeah, the refugee center, they got biscuits waiting in the oven for us," the woman other than Andrea said.

"No signal," T-Dog said after a moment, "Maybe the roof?" he said.

As if on cue, sudden gunshots could be heard coming from above them.

Andrea sighed, "Oh no, is that the fucking redneck?" she hissed, and they all turned and began to run.

Rick followed, still trying to process that they had said there were others, but those others weren't in the refugee camp. They ran up another stairwell until they reached the roof, and Rick was a bit behind the others.

"Hey, Dixon, you crazy?" Morales shouted, and Rick's eyes widened at the name 'Dixon,' Daryl hadn't been Dixon in a decade, but there was someone else who was.

Sure enough, just as he came out onto the roof, he heard the familiar voice of Merle Dixon, "You outta be more polite to a man with a gun! Huh, or common sense?" he said and jumped down from where he'd been standing.

Rick stopped and stared at his brother in law with wide eyes, he still hadn't noticed him, as he was now too busy arguing with the others. He looked to be his usual self, near bald, dirty jeans, and much like Daryl would, a sleeveless shirt and leather vest.

Rick swallowed the lump in his throat, and stepped forward, "Merle!" he shouted to be heard over all the arguing.

Everyone went quiet, and Merle's head snapped to face him. His eyes widened, and his lips parted in shock as he stared at him.

"You two know each other?" Glenn asked.

Rick nodded, "Yeah," he said.

Merle shoved the gun into T-Dog's arms and then stepped closer to him, "What the fuck, you're supposed to be dead," he hissed.

Rick frowned, "What?" he asked.

Merle ran a hand over his face, "The morning we fucking left for Atlanta, Shane was at the hospital, he said the place was trashed, and you were dead in your bed when he got there," he told him.

"How long ago was this?" Rick asked as he still had no idea how long he'd been in a coma for.

"You'd been in the coma for two weeks, and we've been here for over a month now," he said, and everyone was listening intently to their conversation.

Rick's lips parted, and he frowned, "I woke up five days ago," he said softly, and he was in complete surprise that he'd been in a coma for a month and a half, and an entire month of that, he hadn't had any medical care.

Merle was suddenly angry again, "That motherfucker Shane!" he hissed, and he and Shane had never got along, "He said you were fucking dead! He made us fucking leave you there because he was fucking sick of waiting," he growled, "He wanted to go to the refugee camp fucking straight away, tried to make us leave you to get Carl and Lori there, and then even tried to fucking convince Daryl to let him take Carl when he refused,"

Rick frowned as he listened to Merle speak, "I don't know what happened Merle," he said, "But Shane wouldn't have said I was dead if he wasn't sure,"

"Well you clearly aren't bloody dead, man," Merle grunted, "You need to watch your ass with him, I swear he thinks Carl is his son and not yours and Daryl's, it's fucking obsessive,"

Rick chose to ignore Merle's accusations, and he stepped closer to him, he placed a hand on the man's arm, "You said 'before we left for Atlanta,' are Carl and Daryl with you?" he asked, and he could feel his eyes watering, he'd never wanted anything more in his life than for Merle to say yes.

Merle nodded, "Yeah, they're safe, but they think you're dead too,"

"They're back at camp," Glenn told him, "Along with the rest of our group,"

Rick sucked in a deep breath, and then stepped closer to Merle and shoved him into a hug. He'd never hugged Merle Dixon before in his life, and their friendship could be the definition of 'on and off'. He'd hated Merle for many years, and only a few years ago when Merle had turned his life around was Rick happy to have him around his kid, but that didn't mean the man was no longer an asshole. Nevertheless, Rick was still pretty fucking glad to see him.

Merle hugged him back, slapping him on the back, "Fucking Grimes," he mumbled.

 

* * *

  

_Rick was furious._

_The last time they'd seen Merle had been their wedding, and here he was again, seven years later. He'd come to the ceremony and then left. The time before that, Merle had been in the hospital for overdosing and getting the shit beaten out of him by people he owed money to, and Rick and Daryl had to pay his bills._

_It was a Friday night, and Rick had been enjoying a quiet night in with his husband and son when there was a knock on their front door. Rick had stayed sitting at the coffee table with Carl, the two of them doing a puzzle while Daryl went to answer the door._

_Rick heard the voice Merle Dixon moments later, and had quickly stood up, "Carl, go and play in your room," he said._

_Carl had frowned up at him, "But, I'm doing a puzzle daddy," he replied._

_"We can finish it later, go to your room now," he'd repeated, and helped Carl stand up and then nudged the frowning boy down the hallway. He then joined Daryl at the front door._

_As it turned out, Merle had once again run out of money and was essentially homeless. Rick had told him to fuck off, that they had a son now and they couldn't let someone like Merle be around him. Merle had looked hurt by that, and Rick's words had earned him a harsh glare from Daryl._

_By the glare, Rick had expected Daryl to immediately let Merle into their home, but that was only partially the case. Daryl had told Merle if he was to stay with them, he was to do no drugs, drink no alcohol, and he was to cut himself off entirely from his friends and the people that he had worked with._

_Merle had agreed and then realized just how serious Daryl was when he instructed Rick to give Merle a pat down to make sure that he didn't have anything on him. Rick closed the door in Merle's face right there, and he and Daryl proceeded to argue for almost fifteen minutes before Rick had stormed up the stairs and Daryl opened the door to his brother again._

_Now, Rick was sleeping on the couch in the living room because he didn't want to be near Daryl at the moment, no matter how the much slightly older man tried to explain himself to him. Merle was asleep in their spare room, and Rick wanted him to nowhere near their house._

_"Babe," he heard Daryl's soft voice, and he jumped, silently cursing the man's ability to move silently as he turned his eyes to the doorway where the man was standing._

_"What?" Rick huffed, looking at his phone to check the time and frowning when he saw it was a bit after midnight._

_"Come to bed," he said softly._

_"I don't want to be near you right now," Rick said, closing his eyes again._

_"Please, Rick," Daryl almost whimpered, "I don't care if you still don't talk to me, but I need you with me,"_

_Rick knew what those meant, "You've had nightmares, haven't you?" he asked, and Daryl's silence was a good enough answer, "You haven't had one in almost six months, he comes back, and you get one a few hours later," he sighed._

_"Please Rick," Daryl repeated, and he did sound very upset, so Rick knew that it had to of been a nightmare involving his father._

_As pissed as Rick was, he never left Daryl alone when he needed him, "I'll be in in a minute, just let me check on Carl," he said as he stood up from the couch._

_"Thank you," Daryl said, and Rick walked past him and down the hall to Carl's room. He cracked the door open and found the boy sound asleep, his nightlight shining patterns over his walls._

_He then went to his and Daryl's room, where the man was already waiting for him. Rick crawled into bed behind the other man; he didn't cuddle him, but he laid close enough so that they were touching._

_Daryl sighed softly, and Rick wasn't surprised when the man scooted over, resting his head against Rick's ribcage under his arm, and throwing an arm over his stomach, "Thank you," he whispered._

_"Get some sleep, Daryl," he said and closed his own eyes._

 

* * *

  

Rick had never been so scared in his life, and he barely knew Glenn, but he already could see that he was a brave and selfless person, and Rick was glad to have him by his side.

After spotting the truck from the top of the roof, it was decided that he'd needed to get to it and use it to drive back to wherever the camp was. He and Glenn only had one choice, and that was to completely cover themselves in walker's guts to disguise their scent.

It was working fine, but then it started to rain. The walkers began to become curious of them as their scent was washed away, and they didn't have much of choice on what they were going to do next. They began to run. The construction site was just ahead of them, and if they were quick, they could make it.

They swung at the walkers that got to close as they ran, and both nearly received bites to their legs as they climbed over the fence. They managed to make it, but with how many walkers there was, it wouldn't be hard for them to take the fence down and join them anyway.

Rick shot at the walkers coming over the fence while Glenn searched for the keys, and then as soon as Glenn threw him a pair, they both ran towards the truck. The key worked, and they were able to climb inside and start it up just in time.

But it wasn't over, the walkers were now all over the place that they had to be to get back to the others.

"God, oh god, they're all over that place!" Glenn exclaimed as they sped away, and Rick could hear how scared he was.

"You need to draw them away," Rick told him, "Those roll-up doors at the front of the store, that's what I need to be cleared," Glenn began to interrupt him, "Raise the others, tell them to get down there and be ready,"

"And draw the geeks away how? I missed that part!" Glenn replied, holding the radio.

Rick turned to face him, "Noise," he said.

Rick ended up smashing through the window of a car parked on the street to set off the alarm, and then Glenn was off, the walkers immediately following him.

As crazy and stupid as their plan may have been, it managed to work. Rick had got back to the department store, and Merle, Morales, T-Dog, Andrea, and Jacqui were all in the truck, and judging by the sound of the car alarm they could hear approaching in the distance, Glenn wasn't far behind. They'd briefly pulled over for Morales to take the wheel as Rick didn't know where the camp was but were on their way again.

Rick was sat in the back with the others, tapping his fingers against his thighs in anticipation. He didn't know how far away the camp was, and he couldn't wait to get there. His husband and son were there, and he couldn't bear the thought that they thought he was dead, he didn't want to imagine being told that Daryl had been killed.

"So, Daryl's your husband?" Andrea asked him a few minutes after he'd moved to sit in the back with everyone else.

Rick nodded, but didn't look at her, he was busy twisting his wedding ring around his finger, "Yeah, married ten years, together fourteen," he told her.

She smiled, "That's the dream isn't it?" she said.

Rick laughed softly, "It's always felt like one,"

"God, you're like a bloody teenage girl, man," Merle said, and Rick looked at him, raising an eyebrow as he watched the older man rummage around in his jean pocket, "Here, snagged this on the way out," he said, getting a hold of what he was looking for and proceeding to throw it and Rick's chest.

Rick looked down at the tube of lube that was now in his lap, "For fuck's sake," he grunted.

Merle laughed, "I figured that when we were packing, it wasn't exactly on the top of Daryl's list, and y'all will be wanting it tonight," he said and broke into almost hysterical laughter, and everyone else was quietly giggling and smirking to themselves.

Rick's cheeks turned red with his embarrassment, but he did shove the tube of lube into his jeans.

Glenn passed by in the Dodge Challenger just minutes later, cheering and whooping as he did, seeming to be having the time of his life.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING   
> * In this chapter, underage rape/non-con is very briefly mentioned.

Daryl frowned as he watched Glenn climb out of a Dodge Challenger, the car's alarm was going off and blaring around the hills. Daryl would chew him out, but Shane was already on it, so Daryl settled on fixing up Carl's hair and then leading him over to the rest of the group.

Glenn popped the hood, and Shane was able to turn the alarm off, so Daryl could now hear Amy desperately asking if Andrea was okay.

"Yes, she's okay!" Glenn exclaimed, getting overwhelmed at all the different people trying to speak to him at once, "Everyone's okay!" he said, and then he met Daryl's eyes, as a broad smile spread over his face, "They're just behind me,"

Daryl frowned at his strange reaction, and then pulled Carl away to the side as he heard the truck pulling up, while Glenn had said that everyone was okay, Daryl didn't know if anyone had injuries or was covered in blood and either way he didn't want Carl to see that.

Daryl watched as a truck pulled up moments later, and he squatted down in front of the boy, "Hey, what're you thinkin'?" he asked when he saw the upset frown on his son's face.

Carl shrugged, "I don't know," he said softly, and Daryl could hear the laughing of Andrea and Amy reuniting.

"You've been quiet all day," Daryl said, "Bad day for missing your dad?" he asked.

Carl's eyes watered, "I overheard Lori and Shane talking about him, something stupid he and Shane did when they were in high school," he said.

Daryl smiled, "I know plenty of those stories," he said and reached up to run a hand through Carl's hair, and he was too busy focusing on Carl that he hadn't even noticed that everyone else had gone quiet, "I didn't want him to tell you them though, because I didn't want you to get ideas," he said.

Carl smirked a little, and then something got his attention, and he turned his head to look at the others. Daryl watched as shock came on Carl's face, and he followed Carl's gaze.

His lips parted, and his heart lurched into his throat when his eyes fell on the familiar Sheriff's uniform, and the even more familiar man wearing it. Rick stood just ten meters away from him, hands on his hips, and his eyes red as he began to cry. Daryl realized that he wasn't breathing and attempted to suck in a breath.

"Dad!" Carl yelled and tore himself from Daryl's arms and began to sprint towards Rick. He watched as his husband, his husband that was supposed to be dead, caught Carl in his arms and they both fell to the ground for a moment before Rick picked him up.

Daryl lost the ability to control his limbs, and he dropped to the ground, eyes wide, and breathing was shaky as he watched Rick kiss their son's head, and he could hear Carl sobbing from where his face was buried in Rick's neck. Daryl quickly glanced around at the others, found everyone was watching on with wide smiles, except for Shane and Lori who were in similar states to Daryl.

Daryl's eyes went back to Rick, found that the man was now walking towards him. Daryl felt as if he was looking at a ghost, and he sunk his fingers into the dirt beneath him, trying to feel that he wasn't dreaming.

Rick dropped down in front of him, Carl still in his arms, "Daryl," Rick whispered, and Daryl squeezed his eyes closed at the sound of his husband saying his name for the first time in months. Rick reached a hand out and cupped Daryl's cheek, and Daryl tore his eyes open, "Breathe, honey," he whispered.

Daryl sucked in a breath, and locked his eyes on Rick's glassy blue ones, "You were…" he trailed off, unable to find the words.

Rick shook his head, "No, I'm here," he said, and scooted closer to him. Daryl continued to stare at him, forcing himself to breathe, and Rick laughed softly through his tears, "You gonna hug me or not?" he asked.

That seemed to trigger something in Daryl, and he launched himself forward. He threw his arms around Rick and shoved his face into the man's neck, he inhaled his scent (which wasn't all that pleasant, he smelled like sweat and walkers) and he began to sob. Carl was still crying too, but he'd calmed down a little and now seemed content in Rick's arms.

Daryl felt Rick press a kiss to the side of his head, and Daryl felt a small smile pull at his lips.

 

* * *

 

 

Daryl smiled as he watched his son, and husband together. They were sat around the fire - which wasn't lit as it was only afternoon - and eating. Rick had revealed that it had been two days since he'd eaten, so Carol and Lori immediately began to fuss about getting him something to eat, and Daryl had told them to also get something for Carl as he hadn't eaten much that morning.

Daryl had excused himself from Rick's side, which he had been glued to for the past two hours since he'd arrived at the camp as his morning sickness (more like all day sickness) was intensifying, and he knew he was about to throw up. So, he told the pair that he needed to pee, and would be back soon.

He was making his way back to them now, walking through the camp and he could see Rick laughing as he talked to Carl, and Carl was almost sitting in Rick's lap.

When Rick heard him approaching, he looked up at him with a wide smile, "Better?" he asked.

Daryl hummed and sat down on the side that Carl wasn't attached to and pecked Rick on the cheek.

Everyone seemed to understand that the three of them needed some time alone and had given them space. Shane especially seemed to be altogether avoiding them.

"You sure you ain't hurt anywhere?" Daryl asked, for what could have been the third time, "Where you were shot ain't hurting or nothing?" he asked, trailing his hand over Rick's stomach where he knew the wound was.

Rick smiled at him as he ran his hand up and down Carl's back, who was finishing up his food but listening curiously.

"I'm fine, I promise, sugar," Rick told him, "Stop your worrying,"

Daryl sighed and rested his forehead against Rick's shoulder, "The last time I saw you, you were in a coma, I'm gonna worry," he grumbled.

Rick smirked, "What about you? Any injuries?" he asked, and Daryl shook his head, realizing that he could tell Rick that he was pregnant, but he decided it wasn't the time, especially with Carl around and Rick needed some time to rest. Rick looked to Carl then, "You?" he asked.

Carl put down his plate and reached for the bottom of his jeans and started to pull them up, "I skinned my knee when I fell over the other day," he said, and Daryl snorted when the kid proudly showed off the scab he had.

Rick chuckled, "That's going to scar," he said.

"I know! It'll look so awesome," Carl replied, and Rick laughed.

They sat for a few minutes, and Daryl smiled softly when he saw that Carl was almost falling asleep against Rick's chest, and Rick had an arm around him, holding him close. Daryl tilted his head up to press a kiss against Rick's stubbly jaw, and then he reached for Carl.

Carl blinked his eyes open, and his blue eyes settled on Daryl's as he yawned, "What?" he asked softly.

"Why don't you go and have a nap?" Daryl asked and brushed Carl's hair back from his face, "I know that you barely slept at all last night,"

Carl shook his head, "No," he said, throwing an arm over Rick's stomach, "Don't wanna leave," he mumbled, looking up at Rick.

Rick smiled down at him, "I won't be going anywhere," he said softly, "I'll still be here when you wake up,"

Carl frowned, and Daryl smirked, "Besides, your dad smells disgusting and needs a damn bath, I assume you don't want to watch me help him out with that," he said.

"Gross," Carl said, wrinkling his nose.

Rick snorted, "I don't smell that bad, do I?" he asked Daryl.

Just then, Glenn appeared, seeming fresh from a bath himself, "Seriously dude, you do, and so did I. We literally covered in walker guts," he said.

Daryl raised a brow and met Rick's eyes, "What?" he asked.

Rick nodded, "Yeah… it worked to disguise our scent, but then it started to rain," he said.

"That's so cool," Carl said, looking up at Rick with fascination in his eyes. Rick was always his hero.

Daryl laughed and stood up from the log he was sitting on, immediately missing Rick's warmth against his side, "Come on," he said, holding his hand out for Carl, and the boy took it. He looked around for Merle and didn't spot him anywhere, so he looked to Glenn, "You seen Merle?" he asked.

"Hunting," Glenn replied, "But, I can keep an eye on him," he said, motioning to Carl.

Daryl nodded, "Thanks," he said, and then he looked to Rick, "You stay here, I'll get him settled and grab some clothes," he said.

Rick looked almost distressed at the thought of Daryl and Carl leaving him, even for a short time, but he nodded and stayed put. Daryl kept hold of Carl's hand and led them through the camp to their tent, with Glenn following behind them.

"I'll just chill out here," Glenn said and sat himself down in one of the camper chairs outside of the tents, and Daryl nodded.

Carl climbed into his bed, and Daryl tucked him in, "Get some sleep, okay? I know you don't wanna leave your daddy, but we won't be long, we'll be back when you wake up," he told him, and leaned down to peck his forehead and then moved to where his suitcase was sat and began ruffling through it.

"Okay," Carl said quietly, "Don't let anything happen to him,"

Daryl smiled at him as he pulled out some suitable clothes, "Of course I won't," he said.

A few minutes later the pair were down at the quarry, in the more private area of the water where everyone bathed.

Daryl still didn't know what to think of Rick being alive. Well, he knew that he was incredibly happy and relieved, but it still felt like he was in shock. He didn't understand, Shane had put his head to Rick's chest, Shane had been sure that he was dead. Daryl had believed that Rick was dead for nearly two months.

Daryl removed his clothes, and then wadded into the water, holding one the floatable caddies that Andrea had found on the scavenging trip.

He stopped when the water was up to his ribs, and then ducked under the water. He came up moments later, sighing at the cold water running down his face, and he could hear the sound of Rick making his way through the water behind him.

"Daryl," Rick called him softly, and Daryl squeezed his eyes closed, and his lip trembled when he felt Rick place his hands on his waist. Moments later, soft lips were pressed against his shoulder, "I can't imagine how you're feeling right now, so I hope you'll help me understand,"

Daryl let out a sob, and tears began to pour down his cheeks, "You're supposed to be dead, you're a fucking ghost," he cried, trying to pull away from Rick, "This can't be happening, this is a dream,"

Rick let him move away, only so he could pull him back to his chest when he was facing him, "I'm not a ghost, I'm here, I'm real," he said as his blue eyes bored into Daryl's own, and they were still as beautiful as the first time that he saw him.

More tears leaked down his cheeks as he looked at his husband, he looked down to where Rick's hand was on his waist and the shiny silver ring that sat on it. He ran his thumb over it and let out a shaky breath for a moment.

"I'm real, sugar," Rick whispered, and he lifted that same hand to cup Daryl's cheek, "I'm not dead. I promise you that you're not going to wake up and I'm gone; I made my way back to you, baby," he whispered.

More tears leaked down Daryl's cheeks as he listened to Rick's words, and he rested his forehead against the other man's, "You're real," he whispered, and lifted his hands from where they were in the water, and ran them over Rick's lower back, feeling his head beneath his palms.

"I am," Rick whispered and tilted his head to press his lips against Daryl's cheek, "Can I kiss you?" he asked, pushing some of Daryl's wet hair back, "I haven't got to kiss you properly yet,"

"Please kiss me," Daryl almost whined, and Rick listened immediately and kissed him.

Daryl sighed at the feeling of Rick's lips against his and pulled Rick closer to him as their lips moved against each other's, Rick's tongue slipping into his mouth as soft smacking noises surrounded the quiet area.

They tore apart after several minutes, and Daryl let out a deep and shaky breath.

"I love you," Rick whispered, "I love you so much, Daryl, and I have never been so scared in my life when I woke up and didn't know what was happening to the world, but most importantly, where you and Carl were," he said as he moved back slightly so they could look at each other properly, "I never want to experience that again,"

A small smile pulled at Daryl's lips, "You ain't ever gonna be away from me again, don't fucking worry about that," he told him, and then knocked their forwards together again, "And, I love you too,"

Rick wrapped him up in his arms, and Daryl had never been so relieved to be in them before.

 

* * *

 

 

"Disoriented," Rick said, and Daryl looked at him from where he was sat beside him, Rick's arm around his lower back and Carl laying back against Rick's chest, "I guess that comes closest," Daryl listened as he ran fingers through Carl's hair, "Fear, confusion, all those things. But disoriented comes closest," Rick had just been telling everyone the story of how he'd woken up only five days ago, with no idea what had happened to the world.

It was late, and everyone was sat in the dark around the campfire. Even Merle was there when he usually stuck by himself, the only one who was in their tent was Ed, who nobody was missing.

Dale spoke then, "Words can be meager things. Sometimes they fall short,"

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else," Daryl closed his eyes at Rick's words and lowered his head. It was hard for him to hear what Rick had been through, and he felt incredibly guilty for leaving him there, "For a while, I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, that I might not wake up from. Ever," Daryl squeezed his hand and tried his best not to cry.

Daryl watched as Carl tilted his head to look up at Rick, "Dad said you died," he whispered.

Rick stroked his hand over Carl's jaw and smiled softly at him, "He had every reason to believe that I was. Don't you ever doubt that," he said.

Daryl met Rick's eyes again after looking to Shane for a moment, "When things first started to get bad, the people at the hospital told us that they were going to have you and the other patients transferred to Atlanta," he told him, "But, then Shane and Lori showed up at the house at five in the morning, told me that he'd been and the hospital, found it abandoned, put his head to his chest and you were gone. All I was thinking of was getting Carl somewhere safe after that,"

Rick sighed and squeezed Daryl's hand, "I don't know how long it had been from when y'all left to one I woke up, but it was clear nobody had been there in a long time. There was a room, chained up with a warning on the doors, walkers putting their hands through the gaps. Those were the first ones I saw, was terrified, before them there was a woman in the hallway… I was thinking of how a bear could have gotten inside,"

"It was later than everyone else by the time we left," Shane said, speaking to Rick for probably only the third time since he'd arrived, "It was crazy… I barely got them out of there,"

Daryl frowned a little at that, Shane speaking like he'd saved the day, which wasn't really the case as Merle and Daryl had fought just as hard as he did.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane,"

Merle chose to be the one to speak up. He hated Shane, had always been open about it, and even Daryl had to admit that the man had been getting on his nerves quite often since the outbreak had started.

"How 'bout me, Ricky?" Merle grumbled, leaning back in his camping chair, "How about me for looking after your son whenever Daryl was in the hospital? How about Daryl for doing more than this fucker did?"

Daryl sighed and watched as a deep frown came over Rick's face, "Merle, I," he started, but Merle cut him off.

"Nah, man. You best listen to what I told you back on that roof," he said and stood up, and then came to a brief stop in front of Daryl, "I set up the spare tent for me to stay in tonight," he told him and then nodded down towards Carl, "You can leave him with me, I'm sure you two sure as hell have a lot more to talk about,"

Daryl watched as his brother walked away, and then rested his head against Rick's shoulder and laid one hand over Carl's stomach.

"We can watch Carl tonight," Shane said after a few moments, just as an awkward mood had started to settle around the campfire.

That made Daryl roll his eyes and lift his head to look at Shane, "Merle's perfectly capable," he almost hissed at him, and Rick's arms tightened around his waist.

"Hey," Rick said, frowning as he looked at Daryl, "What am I missing?" he asked.

Daryl didn't reply but rested his head down on Rick's shoulder again.

Everyone was quiet for several minutes, and then Glenn got everyone's attention again.

"There was something I was thinking of, Rick," he said.

"What's that?" Rick asked.

"That bag of guns you dropped before you got stuck in the tank," he started, and Daryl lifted his head, "That could the be the difference in how much longer we live," he said.

Rick was quiet for a moment, then nodded, "Yeah, it could be,"

"What guns?" Shane asked.

"I went to the station, took what guns and ammo were left, and halved it with Morgan," he explained, "I had them in a bag, but I dropped it. It would still be there on the streets," he said, "How much ammo do y'all have here?"

"Not a lot," Andrea answered.

Daryl met Rick's eyes, "Do you think they're worth going back for?" he asked.

Rick nodded, "Yeah, they could be," he said.

"No, absolutely not," Shane said from across the fire, "How can you say you want to go back after seeing what it was like? After the stunt with the car, the walkers could have at least doubled,"

"Nobody's saying that you have to go," Glenn said, "But for me, if they give us more of a chance of surviving, then I think we should," he said.

Rick sighed and squeezed Daryl's hip before shifting, stirring Carl who'd been almost asleep in his lap, "We can talk about this more in the morning," he said and stood up once he'd shifted Carl off his lap.

Daryl helped Carl up, and stood too, "See y'all later," he said, and then took Rick's hand to lead him to their tent.

Daryl kissed Carl goodnight from outside the spare tent that Merle had set up, and then let Rick take him inside.

He smiled as he heard Rick saying goodnight to their son, "I found you, didn't I? I'm not going anywhere, and I'll see you in the morning, okay? I love you so much,"

Rick emerged a few minutes later, and Daryl smiled softly before retaking his hand.

He led Rick through the camp to the tent and let him enter first before climbing in behind him and zipping the tent closed and flicking on the lantern so that they could see.

"So, this has been home for the last month," Rick said as he looked around. He hadn't been inside it before now, as Daryl had gotten whatever he needed for him.

Daryl hummed and sat down on his bed and started to pull off his boots, "Wouldn't call it home," he said.

Rick sat down next to him, and started to pull off his boots too, "Temporary residence then,"

Daryl smiled softly, and then pulled off his shirts and jeans, and got under the covers of his little camper mattress, looking at Rick as he watched him do the same. He sighed at the sight of Rick in only a pair of black boxers. He'd be too upset in the lake earlier to get a proper look at the man, but he was better now.

Rick had lost muscle tone, which was to be expected, but he was still utterly gorgeous. Rick didn't hesitate to climb in with him, and he settled beside him, one on of his legs threaded between both of Daryl's and he propped himself up on an elbow above him.

Daryl smiled softly and reached up to cup one side of Rick's jaw, and he felt the roughness beneath his palm.

"Nice and scruffy, just how you like it," Rick said.

Daryl chuckled softly, and then pulled Rick down to kiss him, just briefly, "Missed you," he whispered.

Rick's lips pulled in an almost sad smile, "I missed you too sugar, even though it was only five days… god worst fucking days of my life," he said.

"Even worse than when you got flu last winter and insisted that death would be on the doorstep within the hour?" Daryl joked, smirking up at his husband playfully.

Rick laughed, "Much, much worse," he answered, and leaned down and kissed him again.

They kissed for several moments before Daryl pulled back, "Come on, let's do this before everyone else starts coming back," he said, already starting to get hard in his boxers, and he could feel that Rick could too. It had been two months since they were together, and Daryl's pregnancy had been making him so horny lately that he'd had to sneak off into the woods twice to jack off.

"How romantic," Rick grunted, as he kissed down his neck.

"Don't need it romantic," Daryl said, and then groaned, "I don't have any fucking lube though,"

He felt Rick laugh against his neck, "Well, believe it or not, I do," he said and proceeded to climb off of Daryl and out of bed.

"What?" Daryl almost snorted.

"Merle snagged it for us, he said," Rick told him, and Daryl rolled his eyes and snickered, "Where'd you put my pants?" he asked.

Daryl motioned to the plastic bag in the corner, and Rick knee walked over to it and then began to rummage around through it. Daryl took the opportunity to shove his boxers off. While he did wish he and Rick could take it slow and truly worship each other for the night, they didn't have the time and the privacy, and Daryl wasn't exactly comfortable with the camp being able to hear them going at it.

Rick returned moments later with a tube of lube, and Daryl was immediately grateful for how big it was. It could last them a while.

"Come here," Daryl said, as Rick climbed on top of him again, and he slipped his fingers under the waistband of the man's boxers and proceeded to shove them down Rick's legs as far as he could get them before Rick had to remove them himself.

Rick leaned down and kissed him, and Daryl grabbed himself two handfuls of Rick's ass and squeezed. Daryl loved Rick's ass, always had, even though they rarely adventured into anything that involved Rick's ass. Daryl was always down for it whenever the occasion would come that Rick felt like receiving, but they had their preferences.

Rick already seemed to be trying to take his time, sucking and nipping at Daryl's neck while he slowly rubbed their cocks together. Daryl groaned at the delicious friction, and it had been so fucking long since he'd felt Rick on top of him, but they didn't have the damn time.

"You either start stretching me, or I do it myself," Daryl told him.

"That's a very poor ultimatum since I like both of those options," Rick replied cheekily, but did pop the lid on the tube of lube and sat back on his heels, removing the covers from their bodies.

Daryl felt almost shy as laid naked beneath Rick, his legs spread and cock hard against his stomach. He briefly wondered if his pregnancy was visible, but dismissed it since he was only two months, and hadn't even started to show with Carl until he was three and a half.

Rick squeezed lube onto two of his fingers, and Daryl quickly shoved one of his pillows under his ass, and then Rick was reaching down and brushing his fingers over his entrance.

Daryl sucked in a breath and closed his eyes, threading his fingers into the sheets beneath him.

"You okay?" Rick asked softly, and Daryl nodded, so Rick pressed the first finger inside of him.

A single finger had never been much for Daryl, and he didn't have much of a response to it, so Rick moved it in and out a couple of times and pressed it against his walls before he had his second finger join it. The second was a bit more of a stretch, especially since Daryl hadn't touched himself like that in months, not since the last time he and Rick were together, and Rick had wanted to watch him.

Rick let his fingers sit for a moment, and then began to scissor them. Daryl squeezed at the sheets a little and let out a quiet sigh. Rick was purposely avoiding his prostate like the tease that he was, and Daryl forced his eyes open. He found that Rick's eyes were glued to his face, his pupils blown wide in the dim light, and his bottom lip was between his teeth.

"God, you're fucking sexy without fucking trying," Daryl grumbled and spread his legs a little wider to give Rick better access.

Rick laughed softly, "You should see yourself, sugar," he said, and Daryl rolled his eyes.

"Come on, third now," Daryl grunted, and they probably could have gone a few more minutes with just the two fingers, but they didn't have the time.

Rick raised a brow at him but continued when Daryl pinched his hip. More lube was spread over all three fingers, and Daryl sucked in a breath and tried to make himself relax as they started to press inside of him.

Rick made the judgment when to move them, he waited for Daryl to start rocking against them, and then he took the lead himself. He moved his fingers in and out, spread them as wide as he could, closed them again, pressed against his prostate, and then repeated.

Daryl was biting at his knuckles to try and stop himself from making any noise, but it felt so damn good that a couple of soft moans slipped out, but it was okay as they were only loud enough for Rick to hear. He seemed to be appreciating them too by how hard his cock was and pre-come was leaking from the tip. Daryl wanted to lean up and taste it, wanted to feel Rick come down his throat.

Daryl was a bit more generous with the time he allowed Rick to use his three fingers, but not by much.

"Cock now," he said simply like he was ordering something at a restaurant, and Rick seemed to think his phrasing was funny too as he laughed softly and drew his fingers out.

Rick reached for the lube, and squirted some more on his hand and froze, "Shit," he said.

"What's wrong?" Daryl asked, trailing his fingers over the scar from Rick's bullet wound on his chest.

"We don't have any condoms. I'm guessin' you ran out of your pill a while ago?" Rick replied.

Daryl rolled his eyes, "Fuck's sake Rick, just fuck me," he told him.

"But we can't risk it," Rick replied, and Daryl tried to ignore how much those words sent a pang of nerves to his stomach.

He swallowed thickly, and then reached for Rick's cock himself and guided him forward. Rick still seemed to hesitate, but he closed his eyes and gasped when Daryl ran his head over his hole, "Just once ain't gonna hurt," he whispered, and it was true. It wasn't going to hurt because he was already pregnant, but Rick's words about how they couldn't risk it just pushed his bravery about telling him three steps back.

"Fuck," Rick moaned softly, and then leaned down over Daryl, propping himself up on one elbow and situating himself between his legs. Daryl kept a hold of his cock to help guide him in, and Rick pushed forward gently until Daryl's hole finally accepted his head in.

Rick was big. Was blessed with being very well endowed, and Daryl had always fucking loved it. Well, maybe not the first night they were together, because that was the first time Daryl was ever properly with someone, and it hadn't been all that comfortable. Daryl had let Rick keep going until he come, even though he wasn't feeling any proper pleasure from it, but he loved how good it felt to Rick. Rick had made sure Daryl came though. He sucked him off until he came so hard he almost passed out.

Daryl screwed up his face in pain as Rick sunk deeper inside of him, eight inches was a lot to take after nothing for two months.

"I can pull out," Rick whispered, his breath fluttering over Daryl's face as he leaned down to kiss him gently.

Daryl quickly shook his head, "Fuck no, just get in all the way and give me a minute," he instructed.

Rick nodded and did as he said. He continued to push until he was completely sheathed inside of Daryl, and then buried his face in his neck and groaned softly as he waited for Daryl to be ready. Daryl felt so damn full, and he'd missed it so fucking much. He reached down between his and Rick's bodies and wrapped a hand around his cock and stroked it slowly to help himself relax.

He felt ready enough a few minutes later, and he tangled his fingers in Rick's hair and tugged his head up, "Come on," he whispered.

Rick was all too eager and propped himself up above him again, he started to pull out gently, and then eased himself back in when he was left a couple of inches inside. It was still uncomfortable but getting better by the second and Daryl groaned softly as he wrapped his legs around Rick's waist.

"God, you're fucking tight," Rick moaned, tangling one hand in Daryl's hair, and holding his hip firmly with the other.

"You're fucking big," Daryl whispered in reply, running his hands up and down Rick's smooth back as he fucked into him.

Rick laughed softly, and kissed at his jaw once, before pressing their lips together. Daryl kissed him back passionately, and their tongues moved together as Rick's thrusts started to feel more and more pleasurable by the moment for Daryl, and Rick was clearly enjoying himself too.

Daryl wanted nothing more than to cry out and moan loud, let Rick know how good he was making him feel.

Rick's cock dragged along his sweet spot in the best way, and he knew that it wouldn't take long for him to come. He knew it wouldn't take Rick longer, judging by how the man's face was buried in his neck and he was letting out little grunts as he held Daryl's hip hard enough to leave a bruise.

"So, fucking good," Daryl whined quietly since he couldn't let Rick know properly.

"You will always be the best fucking thing that I have ever felt, nothing could compare to this," Rick told him, lifting his face from his neck to stare into his eyes for a moment before shoving their lips together again.

Daryl's heart surged at the man's praise and dragged his fingernails down his back because he knew how much Rick liked it.

Rick tore their lips apart after a few moments, "Shit, I'm not going to last," he told him, sweat rolling down his temples.

"I won't either," Daryl grunted softly, reaching down and wrapping a hand around his cock again, and he started to pump himself in time with Rick's thrusts, "Come whenever you want, I'm right there," he groaned, sitting right on the edge of his stomach.

Rick nodded, fucking into him even harder, "I'll pull out," Rick said like Daryl couldn't get pregnant from his pre-come that he'd already released, but Daryl had to admit it would make the clean up a whole lot easier.

Daryl barely had time to respond before his orgasm was crashing over him, and he shoved his free hand over his mouth to stop himself from making any noise as he thighs shook and his come spurted over his stomach. Rick gave him a few harder thrusts to ride out his orgasm, and then pulled out himself and pumped himself furiously a couple of times before his own come shot out and joined Daryl's on his own on his stomach.

Daryl bit his lip as he watched Rick come, how his stomach tightened up and he squeezed his eyes closed, his mouth dropped open in a silent moan. He was so fucking gorgeous, and fourteen years on, Daryl still had moments that he couldn't believe that Rick was his.

Rick panted for a few moments, opened his eyes to meet Daryl's, and then gave him a smirk as he laid down over him and started like up their come from Daryl's stomach. Daryl wished that he had a phone so that he could video it.

 

* * *

 

 

_Daryl couldn't help smiling to himself as he looked at the man asleep in the bed beside him. Rick was laying on his back, and his curls were an adorable mess._

_Daryl felt so incredibly happy as he looked at his boyfriend. They'd been together five months now, but last night was their first time having sex together. Rick had been a perfect gentleman, and Daryl had quite enjoyed himself by the end. He knew that it would only get better. Rick had been so incredibly gentle since Daryl told him he was still a virgin… which he wasn't, but wished he was._

_He'd been ten, and it had been one of his father's drunk friends. It wasn't right, and it wasn't fair. But, he wasn't ready to tell Rick that just yet._

_Just as he started to make himself miserable thinking about it, he heard Rick's deep, and sleepy voice, "Good morning sugar," Rick greeted him._

_A small smile spread on Daryl's lips, and he quickly scooted closer to Rick, propping himself up above him and then leaning down to kiss him. Rick hummed as he kissed him back, and ran his hand up Daryl's back, and even though Rick knew about his scars and that his father had caused them, he still tensed up knowing that he could feel them._

_"How're you feeling?" Rick asked when their kiss came to an end, brushing his fingers through Daryl's hair._

_"Sore," Daryl replied, trailing his pointer finger over Rick's nose and across his cheek, "Good sore though," he said with a small smirk._

_Rick laughed softly and kissed him again, giving his ass a little squeeze, "Great," he said, "Now, how about we cuddle for a bit, and then go make some coffee and eat way too much breakfast?"_

_Daryl settled down on Rick's bare chest, brushing his hand over the light dusting of hair, "Sounds like a plan," he replied._

 

* * *

 

  
  
"Daryl?" Rick asked a few minutes after they'd finished, and Daryl was tucked against his side and falling asleep.

Daryl hummed in reply, "What?" he grumbled.

"Things seem even tenser than usual with Merle and Shane, and you and him too," Rick said softly, slipping his hand under Daryl's t-shirt to feel Daryl's skin. They'd dressed after they'd finished having sex because it was very likely that Carl would come bounding into their tent early in the morning, desperate to see his dads.

Daryl sighed softly, "Yeah," he said.

"Why?" Rick asked, and he didn't sound mad, which if the circumstances were different and they hadn't just reunited after two months apart, he probably would have been for Daryl snapping at Shane back at the fire.

"He's always been really involved with Carl," Daryl started, "But almost ever since you got shot… he's become almost possessive of him. He doubts Merle and me all the time, thinks he knows better than I do," he explained, hoping that Rick understood because the situation had been escalating, and it was beginning to make Daryl uncomfortable.

"Merle mentioned that," Rick said after being quiet for a few moments, "Said he swore Shane thought Carl was his son and not ours,"

Daryl nodded, "That's how he acts sometimes, and it makes me uncomfortable," he said, and he didn't feel any hesitation in expressing his feelings to Rick.

"Okay," Rick said, "I'm sure he's just a bit out of sorts as everyone is with the world being how it is, but if it gets worse I'll talk to him,"

"Thank you," Daryl said softly and closed his eyes again. He was exhausted. Making a baby was hard.

"I love you," Rick whispered.

"I love you,"


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI  
> \- Some dialogue in this chapter is taken from the show  
> \- TRIGGER WARNING - A stillborn, c-section birth is mentioned in this chapter

Rick barely had time to blink the blurriness out of his eyes before Carl was colliding with his chest as he jumped on top of him and Daryl in their bed. Rick grunted softly at the unexpected weight against his chest, and he heard Daryl grumble a little at being so rudely disturbed from his sleep.

"Dads!" he shouted almost right in their faces like they weren't already awake.

Rick laughed softly and wrapped his arms around his son and leaned up to peck his cheek softly, "Good morning," he greeted him. He looked over and found Daryl awake and looking at him, a soft smile on his face, "Morning to you too," he said and leaned forward and pecked him on the lips quickly.

"Did you sleep well?" Rick heard Daryl ask their son as Rick tickled Carl's sides playfully.

"Yeah!" he said and giggled as he tried to grab at Rick's hands.

Carl laid down on Rick's chest, and Rick wrapped his arms around him. A small smile pulled at Rick's lips as his son settled with his face pressed against his bare collarbones, and Rick played with his hair as he looked over to meet Daryl's eyes.

Daryl smirked at him and scooted closer, resting his head against his shoulder and sighing softly. Rick was glad the man had calmed down since they had reunited yesterday. As soon as he had seen Daryl, he felt immediately relaxed, that everything would be okay because he had his husband and son.

But he knew something was off as soon as everyone had left them alone, Daryl was quiet and not acting like himself, seeming to flinch every time Rick had tried to touch him. It had been heartbreaking to hear Daryl cry and say that Rick was a ghost, that he was going to wake up and Rick would be gone.

"How did you sleep?" Rick asked his husband, removing one of his hands from Carl's back to take Daryl's hand and give it a squeeze.

Daryl shrugged, "Got a couple of hours," he said with a soft sigh, "No more or less than usual,"

Rick frowned, "That's not good," he murmured, shifting when Carl's hair began to tickle his neck, "Why aren't you sleeping well?" he asked.

"Don't know," Daryl told him, and then sat up in his bed, "Now come on, breakfast will be ready soon, and we need to talk about those guns with the others,"

Rick nodded in agreement, and sat up too, Carl falling back into his lap and grunting at being disturbed, "Let's get dressed, hmm?" he said to his son, and Carl nodded as he climbed off him, and then crawled over to where his own suitcase sat beside his bed.

Rick smiled after him, and then leaned over to Daryl, he cupped his cheek and pressed their lips together softly for a moment, and it deepened for a moment before Rick got a ball of socks to the back of his head.

"Come on! I'm hungry!" Carl exclaimed, pulling on a clean shirt.

Daryl chuckled softly, gave Rick a soft peck and then started ruffling through his own suitcase to find them both some clothes to wear.

 

* * *

  

Rick smiled as he walked through the camp, it was a few hours after morning, and everyone was up and about. Merle was chatting to Andrea as she hung out some clothes, and Rick suspected that Merle was more than likely hitting on her. Carl had gone to play with Sophia, and Daryl had left the camp to check traps that he and Merle had set a few days previous, and to hunt anything else that he picked up a trail of.

Rick had wanted to go with him, but Daryl wouldn't let him because as much as he loved hunting with Rick, they couldn't risk losing any animal with how their food situation was, so Merle and Daryl were the only ones who hunted.

Rick came to a stop beside Glenn, who had a disappointed frown on his face as he watched the Dodge Challenger that he had driven the previous day, be pulled apart by Shane, Dale, and Morales.

"Look at them, vultures," Glenn said, shaking his head, "Go on, strip it clean,"

"Generators need every drop of fuel they can get, got no power without it, sorry Glenn," Dale said as he passed them.

"Thought I'd get to drive it at least a few more days," Glenn mumbled.

Rick tried his best not to smirk, "Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday," he said, and slapped Glenn on his lower back.

He then walked over to Merle, who smirked at him, "Well, morning officer," he greeted him.

"Good morning, Merle," he said, "Andrea,"

"Get a good night's rest?" Andrea asked him, with a soft smile. She seemed to definitely have warmed up to him since their first meeting.

Rick nodded, "The best in a long time," he said with a smile.

"Surprise, surprise," Merle laughed, winking at Rick suggestively.

"God you're a pig," Andrea huffed.

Rick rolled his eyes, but a smirk pulled at his lips. As odd as it would seem to others, Merle making crude jokes about Rick and Daryl's sex life, was really how he showed his support for the relationship.

Rick was about to say something else when the scream of a child interrupted him. He recognized it as his son and Sophia.

"Dad!" Carl cried, and that had to be one of the most terrifying things that Rick had ever heard as he began to run.

"Carl!" Rick screamed, and he could hear the footsteps of Merle, Andrea, Shane and some of the others following behind them.

Rick's first thought had been walker, and his heart pounded in his chest as he thought of Carl being bitten. Carl entered his sight after a few moments of writing, along with Jacqui and Sophia behind them.

"They didn't get bit or scratched," Jacqui quickly told them, and Carl slammed himself into Merle's middle as he arrived behind him.

"I got him," Merle said, holding Carl against him and meeting Rick's eyes. Rick nodded gratefully, brushing his hand through Carl's hair, and then continued to jog to where the kids had come from.

Rick, Shane, Glenn, Morales, T-Dog and a few others reached the walker they had been looking for. It was bent down and knowing on a dead deer. They began trying to kill it, bringing their weapons down on its body, panting and grunting as they did, and then stopping when Dale used his axe to decapitate it.

"That's the first one we've had up here," Dale said, fear in his voice, "They never come this far up the mountain,"

"Well, they're running out of food in the city," Jim said, sweat dribbling down his temples.

They heard noise coming from the trees, and they all raised their weapons forward again in preparation for another walker. Shane stepped forward with his gun raised, and then Daryl appeared in a gap of the trees, and everyone sighed and lowered their weapons.

Rick looked to the dead deer, and then his husband, knowing that he wouldn't be happy about that. He checked Daryl over quickly, found he looked fine other than having lost his shirt somewhere, and now just had on a tan undershirt. Rick wasn't going to explain, it showed off his arms.

"Son of a bitch!" Daryl yelled as he stepped "That's my deer. Look at it, all gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless, poxy, bastard," he grunted, and Risk raised a brow as he watched Daryl punctuate each insult with a kick to the walker. He then looked up and saw where Carl was to make sure he was okay before looking back down to the deer.

"Calm down son, that's not helping," Dale said softly.

Daryl looked up and took a few steps towards Dale, "What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to the old golden pond," Daryl hissed at, only stepping back when Shane tapped the gun against his chest.

Rick stared at his husband in surprise. It had been a long time since he'd seen Daryl act that way, seen him so damn angry. He reminded Rick of the old Daryl he knew, the one that they had worked so hard to leave behind.

Daryl seemed to be ignoring Rick all together as he walked back to the deer, "Been tracking this deer for miles, was gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison," he said as he tugged the bolts from his crossbow out of the deer, and everyone watched on looking slightly disgusted as the mauled deer, and dead walker didn't seem to both Daryl at all. "What do you think, we can cut around chewed up part right here?" Daryl asked, motioning to where the walker had been eating the deer.

"Man, we would not risk that," Shane sighed.

"It's a damn shame," Daryl sighed, "Well, I got some squirrel, a dozen or so. That will have to do," he said, finally meeting Rick's eyes and briefly looking him up and down.

Everyone jumped when the walker's decapitated moved, and its eyes and jaw snapped open.

"Oh god," Amy said from where she and Andrea had been watching, and Andrea led her away.

"Come on people, what the hell," Daryl sighed, and aimed his crossbow, releasing the bolt into the walker's forehead, blood spattering everywhere, "It's gotta be the brain, don't y'all know nothing?" he said, pulling the bolt out of the walker's head and then beginning to walk towards camp.

Rick frowned at Daryl's strange behavior and then followed after him. They arrived at where most of the others were, and Rick watched as Daryl immediately made his way to Merle and Carl. Daryl handed his crossbow and squirrels to Merle, and then despite Carl being ten, lifted the boy up and held him against his chest like he was a toddler.

Carl was still crying softly, and Daryl kissed his head and rubbed his back as he walked the rest of the way to camp, taking Carl back to their tent.

Rick watched after them, his hands on his hips and he sighed softly.

Shane appeared beside him, "That's what he's like now," Shane said, "Ain't the first time Carl's seen something like that," He looked at him for a moment, and then walked away.

Rick watched after him with a frown, and then shook his head and followed them. He found them standing just outside of their tent, and Daryl was picking leaves out of Carl's hair, and dusting the dirt off his clothes.

"Hey," Rick greeted as he approached them, and Carl turned to look at him.

"Hi, dad," he replied quietly.

Rick came to a stop beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, "Are you alright?" he asked.

Carl nodded, "Yeah, I'm okay," he replied, "Just it was really close…"

Daryl fixed the buttons on Carl's shirt and stood straight again, "It's a scary thing, Carl, it's okay if you got scared," Daryl told him, kissing his head and meeting Rick's eyes.

Rick gave him a smile, and then looked at, "Yeah, when I heard you yell for me, that scared me a whole lot," he told him, "Now come here," he said and pulled his son to his chest.

Carl accepted the hug and wrapped his arms around him, "Sorry for scaring you," he mumbled, his voice muffled from where his face was buried in his stomach.

Rick huffed softly, "Nothing to be sorry about, buddy. You didn't do anything wrong," he comforted his son and shared a sad look with Daryl.

 

* * *

 

"Rick, this is ridiculous," Shane said as he followed after him.

Rick tried not to roll his eyes as he continued to walk away from him. He'd redressed in his Sherriff's uniform which Carol had washed for him, and Daryl was squatted down looking through a bag as Carl almost hung off his side.

"We need those guns, Shane," Rick sighed, "There are eight guns in there, and a decent amount of ammo. They could be the difference is how long we survive," he said. He'd tried to explain it several times now, but Shane was still set on him on leaving the guns there to waste.

"So, you and Daryl? That's your big plan?" Lori asked, from where she was sat near the fire.

"Should I be offended that I am forgotten so often?" Merle grunted as he came out of the RV.

Rick caught a small smirk on Daryl's lips as he stood up.

Rick looked to Glenn, raising a brow at him.

"Oh, come on," Glenn moaned.

"You know the way," Rick said, "And Daryl said you're the best scavenger here,"

"Fine," Glenn sighed, but he didn't look all that happy about it.

Rick looked down when small arms were wrapped around his waist, and he met the big blue eyes of Carl, "Dads, I don't want you's to go," he mumbled, looking between Rick and Daryl.

Rick cupped the back of the boy's head, "It will be okay. We'll be back by dark tonight, and we're all gonna be fine," he said softly, "Okay?"

Carl nodded stiffly and then moved to hug Daryl. Daryl leaned down to kiss him on the head, "I love you, 'kay?" he asked.

"Love you," Carl mumbled, shoving his face into Daryl's stomach for a moment, and then walking over and sitting himself down beside Lori, who wrapped an arm around him.

Rick reached out and rubbed his hand over Daryl's back, and he looked to Shane, "I owe a debt to the man I was telling you about, Morgan. I'd be dead if it weren't for him, and if I don't warn him, he'll run into the same trap in Atlanta like I did. There's a walkie-talkie in the bag that I took from the station, and he has the other one,"

Shane sighed heavily, "It's your own damn mistake man," he sighed.

Rick huffed and turned to Daryl. He brushed his lips over his temple, "Let's go," he whispered and then made his way to the truck that Merle and T-Dog were already loading up the truck.

 

* * *

 

Give it to Daryl to have the worst timing in the world.

He, Glenn, Rick, T-Dog and Merle were back in Atlanta, Merle with T-Dog and Rick, while Glenn and Daryl were in another alley. Everyone's job was to cover Glenn, while he ran and collected the bag of guns from where they were by the tank.

But, as Daryl's 'morning sickness' was all day sickness, he and Glenn had a little delay.

They were halfway down the alley, and Daryl was bent over an old garbage bin and throwing up the contents of his stomach into it. Glenn was behind him, and to Daryl's surprise, had pulled Daryl's hair back from his face and was rubbing his back.

"Jesus man, should we go to the others? Sit you down in the building and have Merle take the crossbow?" Glenn asked him.

"No," Daryl grunted, having stopped for a minute, but not moving away as he knew there was another wave coming, "I'll be fine in a minute,"

"How can you be sure?" Glenn whisper-yelled, "You could be getting sick, and it could be contagious therefore you could be giving it to me," he said, sounding like he wanted to move away from Daryl, but his hands stayed firmly in Daryl's hair.

"I ain't contagious," Daryl grunted.

"You don't know that!"

"For fuck's sake," Daryl hissed, "Trust me alright, I know I ain't contagious, and I know I'll be fine in a fucking minute,"

Glenn was quiet for a moment, and Daryl rolled his eyes at himself because it seemed at this rate, Rick was going to be the last one in the camp to know that they were having a baby.

"Oh my god… are you-"

Daryl cut him off by vomiting again.

When he finished a few minutes later, he stood straight and wiped at his mouth after spitting a couple of times. He found Glenn staring at him, nervously biting at his lip, "You don't mention this to Rick, or anyone else," he warned the younger man.

Glenn nodded, "Yeah, of course. It isn't my place," he said.

Daryl nodded once, "Right, let's do this then," he told him.

Minutes later, Daryl was crouched behind the same bin he had just been throwing up in and listening to footsteps too even to be a walker's making their way down the alleyway. Glenn had gone after the guns, and Daryl wasn't about to let him come back to a gun to his head.

Daryl stood up and pointed his crossbow. He found that the footsteps belonged to a kid who couldn't have been any older than Glenn.

"Whoa don't shoot me!" He cried, holding his arms up. The boy then proceeded to cry out a man's name, and Daryl had no choice but to take the man to the ground and cover his mouth, he couldn't risk the walkers hearing them. He was taken by surprise by footsteps behind him, and he barely turned around before two men had tackled him to the ground.

He grunted as kicks and hits began to be delivered to his body, and he curled in on his body, one hand over his head another over his stomach. Glenn arrived just moments later and was quickly grabbed by the men, and they got a couple of hits in on him before a car appeared, and they dragged him back into it.

Daryl cried out, and desperately tried to scramble after them, but they sped away, and he had no choice to stay in the alley, or the walkers would be all over him.

He turned back to the kid who had first arrived and proceeded to shove him up against the wall. He was just ready to break his nose when Rick, Merle and T-Dog, and Rick pushed him away.

Rick held Daryl by a hand just below his throat, "Whoa, whoa!" he yelled.

Daryl tried to shove past him and reach for the man, who Merle was now holding, "Imma kick your nuts up in your throat!" Daryl shouted at him.

"Stop it!" Rick yelled right in Daryl's face, his blue eyes boring right into Daryl's, "Calm down, Daryl," he said a little softer.

"They took Glenn," Daryl almost whimpered.

 

* * *

  

Rick looked around as the old woman led him up a set of stairs. What he was sure was going to be an ugly fight to get Glenn back from the Vatos, as they called themselves, turned into him getting an escort from an elderly woman who thought he was there to arrest her grandson.

Daryl, T-Dog, and Merle followed behind him, and Rick was glad that Daryl had calmed down a bit and was no longer shouting threats at the group since the appearance of the old woman. Rick had been almost disturbed when Daryl had threatened to cut off the young man's feet.

After a few minutes, they were in a nursing home. He looked into the rooms as they walked through the hallways, seeing that there were elderly men in women in most of them, and younger men and women tending to them.

Rick realized that the Vatos maybe weren't the bad people he had initially thought they were.

"For fuck's," sake Merle said quietly as they came into a common area, filled with even more elderly people sat at chairs, eating meals and doing puzzles.

Rick's eyes fell on a circle of people in one corner of the room. They surrounded a man in a wheelchair, who Filipe was encouraging to take puffs from an inhaler. Rick walked a little faster when he saw Glenn standing in the group, and he met the young man's eyes.

"What the hell is this?" he him.

Glenn barely even looked at him, "Asthma attack,"

"We thought you were being eaten by dogs man!" T-Dog hissed at him.

Glenn turned and looked behind him. Rick followed his gaze and rolled his eyes when his eyes fell on three tiny Chihuahuas that were sat in a small bed.

Rick turned to Guillermo, the leader of the group, "Can I have a word?" he asked, frustrated. The man nodded, and they walked away a few meters, "You are the dumbest son of a bitch I have ever met. We walked in there ready to kill every last one of you!"

"I'm glad it didn't go down that way," Guillermo said.

"If it had, that blood would be on my hands,"

"Mine too," He replied, "We'd of fought back, it wouldn't be the first time we've had to. Protect the food, the medicine, what's left of it. These people, the old, the staff took off and left them here to die. Me and Filipe were the only ones who stayed,"

Rick shook his head and met the man's eyes, "What are you? Doctors?" he asked.

"Filipe's a nurse, special care provider. Me, I'm the custodian,"

 

* * *

  

The camp was in hell when they got back. Gunshots were ringing out, people were screaming, and walkers were growling.

They jumped out of the car as soon as they could and joined the chaos, new guns raised. Rick looked around in a panic, trying to find Carl, but he couldn't see him anywhere.

"Carl!" Rick heard his husband scream out, and Rick wanted to cry at the amount of fear he could hear in his voice.

There were dozens of walkers in the camp, it was completely overrun, and Rick could see the bodies of their dead friends on the ground, and the walkers were eating them. Rick stayed as close to Daryl as he could. The look he could see on Daryl's face was pure rage, fear, and determination as he took down any walker that got in his way as he searched for their son.

"Carl!" Rick screamed as they made their way further through the camp, "Shane! Lori!"

"Dad!" He heard his son yell his name, and he looked up towards the RV where most of the group had merged to.

"Carl," Rick said and leaned down to catch the boy in his arms, and he picked him up as he walked towards the others, he looked over his shoulder, found Daryl and Merle still looking around, "Daryl!" he called, and the man immediately looked towards him, and then started sprinting when he saw Carl and the others.

Rick held his sobbing son and came to a stop by Shane, and Daryl arrived just moments later, tears streaming down his face as he cupped the back of Carl's head and kissed the top of it before meeting Rick's eyes. Rick let out a soft sob, and then he and Daryl did the awkward shuffle of moving Carl into his arms.

"Is he okay?" Merle asked from where he'd just arrived after killing the final walkers with Glenn.

Rick nodded, and Merle gave Carl's waist a squeeze and kissed his head before walking away.

Rick looked to Daryl and cupped his cheek as he watched him kiss Carl's cheek as he rocked him softly, hoping to calm Carl's cries.

"Are you okay?" Rick asked his upset husband.

Daryl nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. You?"

Rick nodded, "If both of y'all are okay, that means that I'm okay," he whispered.

Loud sobbing from behind them got his attention, and Rick frowned when he saw that Andrea was bent over Amy. Rick could see a bite on her arm, and she was bleeding profusely from her neck.

 

* * *

 

"Morgan, I don't know if you're out there, I don't know if you can hear me," Rick spoke into the walkie-talkie, and he knew Daryl was stood behind him, waiting for him, "Maybe you're listening right now, I hope so. I found others, my family. My husband and son, they're alive. I wanted you to know that. Something else you need to know, Atlanta wasn't what we thought, it's not what they promised. The city is… do not enter the city, it belongs to the dead now," He paused for a moment, but heard no reply, "We're camped a few miles up North-West, up by an abandoned rock quarry, you can see it on a map. I hope you come to find us but be careful. Last night, walkers came out of the woods. We lost people. Watch yourself, Morgan, take care of your boy, I'll try again tomorrow at dawn,"

He finished speaking, and he listened. After several minutes, no reply from Morgan came, and he bowed his head to down at the ground.

Daryl dropped to the ground with him and wrapped his arms around him from behind. He kissed at the sweat rolling down his temples, "The most you can do is try, babe," Daryl told him softly.

Rick nodded, and sucked in a deep breath, "Yeah, I know," he whispered.

"Come on, Carl's still real' anxious after last night, doesn't like us being where he can't see us," Daryl said and stood again, he moved to stand in front of Rick and held his hand out for Rick to take. Rick took it and allowed Daryl to pull him up. "You okay?" Daryl asked softly, taking Rick by his hips and squeezing softly.

Rick nodded and used one his hands to cup Daryl's cheek, and the other held the walkie-talkie. He leaned forward and kissed his husband softly, feeling Daryl's chapped lips against his own.

"What's happening back at camp?" Rick asked as they pulled apart and started to walk down the trail that led back to the campsite, holding Daryl's hand tightly in his own.

"Burning the walkers but burying our own. Amy reanimated, but Andrea put her down," Daryl replied, and was quiet for a moment before sighing heavily, "Just found out that Jim got bit last night,"

Rick sighed and ran a hand over his face, "Fuck,"

 

* * *

 

"Just say it," Rick grunted as he and Shane dug the graves.

Shane looked at him for a moment, "Okay," he said, "I'm thinking that if you had of stayed here if you had of looked after your own, instead you went off and took half our manpower. I'm thinking that maybe our losses wouldn't have been so bad,"

Rick frowned at him, "If we hadn't of gone out and brought those guns back when we did, I think our losses would have been a lot worse," he argued, "Maybe the entire camp,"

Shane huffed, "Yeah, guns you gave half of away to a bunch of strangers anyway,"

Rick rolled his eyes and then saw that Daryl had arrived in the truck with more bodies. He dropped his shovel to the ground and then walked over to help him get the bodies out of the back.

 

* * *

 

Daryl sighed as he picked at the dirt under his nails. The entire camp was currently contemplating whether or not they should travel to the CDC, and most people seemed to be leaning towards yes. Rick was up in the RV talking to Jim, and Daryl was currently down at the quarry keeping an eye on Carl and Lori who were bathing.

Lori was wearing an old bikini to cover herself as she bathed, she knew Daryl was gay and wouldn't have any reaction to seeing her nude, and Carl was only ten and hadn't shown any interest in girls or boys yet and probably wouldn't care either, but it had become a custom for the women to wear bikinis as Ed had been known for perving on the women. Even though he was now dead, apparently it was still a habit.

Daryl had always been grateful for Lori, she had always been around to babysit and look after Carl when he and Rick couldn't, even before the outbreak. She loved Carl like he was her own, but in a good way, not in the possessive way that Shane did. Lori and Shane hadn't been able to have children of their own. They tried once a few years after Carl was born, and Lori had successfully gotten pregnant. Unfortunately, Lori's labour hadn't gone smoothly, and the baby had been delivered as a still-born through C-section.

They'd named him Kaiden, and a small funeral was held. It had taken years for the couple to recover from losing the baby, and Daryl knew that was part of the reason Shane had latched onto Carl so unhealthily since the outbreak had started. He couldn't save his own son, so he was determined with Carl, and saw him as his own anyway.

Daryl's thoughts were interrupted by footsteps from behind the log he was sitting on, and he turned around, hoping to see Rick and frowned a little when he saw it was Shane.

Shane squatted down in front of him, "I need you to help talk some sense into Rick," he said, and Daryl huffed softly, looking past Shane to Carl, smiling when he saw he was screwing up his face as Lori scrubbed at his hair, "Look, this CDC thing, it's a mistake,"

Daryl met his eyes, and glared at him harshly, "Rick's my husband, and I trust him,"

Shane shook his head, "Going to the CDC, it's putting everyone, and especially Carl at risk. How can you be okay with putting Carl in that situation?"

"Rick knows what's best for our son, and if he believes the CDC is a good idea, then I trust him. Staying here is putting Carl at risk. After all the noise we made last night, I bet we'll get twice as many walkers within the next couple of days," Daryl said, and Shane looked to get more and more pissed off with each word he spoke, "If you don't want to go to the CDC, then don't, but whatever decision Rick makes, that's the one I'm happy with,"

Shane shook his head and stood up, slapping at a nearby branch in anger, "That's a damn mistake, Daryl," he said, and then proceeded to walk away.

Daryl swallowed thickly as he watched the man leave, and he laid a hand over his stomach. He was around two months and a week now, give or take a couple of days. After being jumped by members of the Vatos, he'd been worried about the baby even though they didn't get near his stomach, that worry was easing though as he had had no bad signs to suggest something was wrong.

Glenn had been particularly friendly since finding out Daryl was pregnant, he tried to shoo him away from carrying the bodies, wanted to give him rations of his food, and had asked him how he was feeling four times today.

He wanted to tell Rick, he really did, but Rick was currently very stressed out, and telling him that they were going to be having a baby in this world wouldn't help. Daryl particularly couldn't get the words 'We can't risk it,' out of his head.

"Dad!" Carl suddenly called, and Daryl looked up to find that the boy was making his way out of the water and walking towards him.

"What's up, buddy?" Daryl asked, handing Carl his towel which he began to dry himself off.

"Would dad be done now?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, let's go and check,"

 

* * *

 

It seemed that all Rick and Shane did was argue since Rick had joined the camp.

They were walking through the woods, doing a sweep with their guns raised. Shane was still trying to convince him not to go to the CDC.

"Why can't you back me up?" Rick exclaimed as he walked up a slight hill, Shane following behind him.

"Man, I want to, it's just, I don't see it,"

"Well, if it was your son you'd feel differently," Rick said. He heard Shane stop walking behind him and turned around.

"What did you say to me?" Shane asked, almost stomping towards him, getting close to Rick's face, "I kept him safe, man. I looked after him like he was my own," Shane growled, tapping Rick on his chest.

Rick looked into his eyes and quickly realized he needed to calm the man down really quick. He now understood why Daryl was so uncomfortable when it came to Shane and Carl, looking at Shane now, Rick knew what he was thinking.

_I could take care of him better than you. I deserve him more than you do._

"I didn't mean it like that," Rick said, and Shane was almost pacing now.

"How'd you mean it then man?" Shane asked, raising his eyebrows at him and licking at his bottom lip.

"You're hearing me wrong," Rick told him.

A snapping twig interrupted their argument, and they headed in opposite directions with their guns raised, searching for walkers, or something else out of place in the trees.

Rick had no idea that Shane stood with his gun raised and pointed at the back of his head, he had no idea that Dale deciding to follow them by chance and appearing beside Shane at the right moment, had probably saved him from getting his head blown off that day.

 

* * *

 

The decision had been made, they were leaving for the CDC in the morning.

Daryl was scared, but he knew that they had no choice, it was their best option. Carl was currently with Merle in their tent and doing some reading. Rick had told Daryl about his and Shane's argument, and he now better understood why there had been so much tension between the two of them, and Merle.

Daryl had gone into the woods as his back was really sore and he needed to walk and stretch out a bit before he tried to go to sleep for the night, along with taking a piss, even though he was going to need to get up and pee at least once more during the night.

He heard steps behind him and quickly spun and held up his crossbow.

"Whoa, Daryl, it's just me," He was greeted with the sight of Rick with his hands held up.

Daryl huffed and lowered his bow, "Will you ever learn not to sneak up on me?" he grumbled.

Rick laughed softly, and came closer to him, reaching for his hips and pulling him to his body, "I'm sorry," he said softly.

Daryl hummed and tilted his head up just slightly to press his lips against Rick's. Rick kissed him back immediately, slipping his hands under Daryl's shirt and feeling his lower back. Daryl moaned softly at feeling Rick's stubble rubbing against his face.

Daryl pulled back after several moments, stroking his fingers through Rick's hair, "You know, this is probably going to be the last time we're alone in a while," he whispered.

Rick chuckled softly, "I didn't bring the lube, so just hands or mouths on dicks," he said.

Daryl nodded and allowed Rick to walk him backward and press him up against a tree. Daryl grabbed his shirt and tucked it up just under his pecks so that no come would get on it, and Rick did the same as Daryl worked on his own belt. They both pulled their cocks out, which were quickly starting to harden, and Rick wrapped his hand around both of them.

Daryl groaned and reached up to shove his hands into Rick's hair, holding onto the curls tightly as they thrust their cocks together along with Rick tight grip pumping up and down.

Rick grunted softly and then shoved their lips together for a moment before he pulled away again, "I swear, being in that coma messed with how fucking horny I am, all the fucking time," Rick groaned, mouthing at Daryl's neck and Daryl tipped his head back against the tree as he laughed softly, "God when I'm not thinking about where to go next, I'm thinking about fucking you,"

Daryl's hips jerked when Rick's thumb swiped over the head of his cock, "Almost two months without fucking each other has turned us into teenagers," he joked.

Rick chuckled softly, and nipped his neck, "God, I wish my hand was your ass right now, sugar," he moaned softly, and Daryl could tell by the choke in his voice that he was close to coming.

"Me too, babe," Daryl groaned, and he really did, he wished that he could feel Rick's cock stretching his ass open, but they weren't stupid enough to go near Daryl's hole when they didn't have lube.

Moments later, Rick buried his face in Daryl's neck and bit down on his collarbone as Daryl felt come spurt over his own cock. Daryl didn't care that it didn't last long, they didn't have the time for it to last long anyway. Rick jerked them both faster to ride out his own orgasm and bring Daryl to his.

Daryl held Rick's hair so tightly when he came that he was sure he ripped out some strands.

They panted against each other and kissed softly as they came down from their orgasms, and Daryl pulled the rag from his back pocket to clean off their cocks and Rick's hand before they tucked themselves back into their jeans.

They moved away so that Daryl wasn't pushed up against the tree, and they found themselves wrapped up in a tight hug.

"I love you so much, Daryl," Rick whispered, brushing his lips against his temple as he ran his hands up and down his back.

A smile pulled at Daryl's lips, and he nuzzled further into Rick's neck, inhaling the slight scent of sweat, "I love you," Daryl replied, "That ain't ever gonna change, baby,"

Rick laughed softly, "Oh, I get a 'baby' do I?" he asked, "I get 'babe' pretty often, but you must be feelin' real' sappy if you're callin' me, 'baby',"

Daryl snorted and nipped Rick's neck, "Well, you know, we got two months' worth of affection to get out, don't we?" he said.

Rick hummed in agreement, running his hands up and down Daryl's bare arms, "Two whole months of loving on you that I haven't got to do," Rick said, giving his biceps a squeeze and then leaning forward and kissing him again.

Daryl kissed Rick back with all the love in him, slipping his tongue into his mouth and holding him as close as they possibly could as their lips smacked, and Rick laughed softly when they both tried to turn their head, and their noses smacked together.

It took several long minutes for them to pull apart, and Daryl was a little hard again in his pants, and he knew Rick would be too, "Shit," he sighed.

Rick chuckled, and pecked him once more and then lifted one hand up, "Your hair's getting long," he said softly, "Halfway past your ears,"

Daryl smiled, "Turned Lori down every time she tried to cut it, I kind of like it," he told him.

Rick hummed, "Me too, it suits you," he replied.

"I like this," Daryl said and rubbed his hand against Rick's stubble.

Rick snorted and nipped at his nose, "Mm, I know you do," he laughed.

Daryl smirked, and then petted Rick on the ass, "Come on, let's go back to our tent. Carl and Merle will be waiting for us,"

It didn't take long for them to get back to their tent, and they were greeted with both a half-asleep Merle and Carl, who were clearly only awake waiting for them to get back.

Daryl squatted down by Carl and kissed him on the head, "Goodnight, buddy," he told him and gave him a hug before he stepped over to his and Rick's bed and crawled in.

Rick said goodnight to Carl as well and then joined Daryl in the bed.

"Alright," Merle said, rolling over in his bed, "Light's going off," he said, flicking off the lamp. The tent was overcome in darkness, and Daryl curled up against Rick's side and closed his eyes.

"Get some sleep everyone, we've got a big day tomorrow," Rick told them and wrapped an arm around Daryl.

"That means no snoring uncle Merle," Carl said, and Daryl and Rick let out laughs.

"Excuse you, little man!" Merle exclaimed, mocking offense for Carl's sake, "I do not snore,"

Carl giggled, "Yes you do!" he said, "It's so loud! I don't understand how you don't wake yourself up!"

Merle snorted, "How rude," he grunted, rolling over in his bed so that his back was to everyone, and Daryl was smirking where his face was against Rick's chest, "I'm bein' betrayed by my own flesh and blood," he grunted.

Daryl laughed out loud, and so did Rick and Carl. He loved seeing his brother be a good uncle, he always knew that Merle had the potential to be a good uncle and by extension, a good brother. It took many years, but Merle did eventually prove to himself, and Rick and Daryl that he could be what they needed him to be.

"Go to sleep you two!" Rick repeated, lecturing both his son and brother in law.

"Sorry dad," Carl giggled.

"Sorry officer," Merle said mockingly.

Daryl pulled Rick to him a little tighter and threw one leg over Rick's and held him over his stomach. Rick was warm and comfortable and laying against him how he was, with Rick's arms holding him tight and his chin pressing against the top of his head, it was the safest he'd felt in a long time.

Rick had always been like a safety blanket to Daryl. Rick had proved to him and over that Daryl could trust him, and that he could protect him and their son. Rick had been fantastic when Daryl was pregnant with Carl, the most supportive and loving husband a person could ever ask for. Daryl couldn't stop thinking about how his second pregnancy wasn't going to be anything like his first.

He didn't have regular doctors' appointments to make sure everything was okay, he didn't have large baby stores at their disposal where they could get everything they needed. He didn't have access to a clean, safe, space to give birth in. He didn't have a doctor to save his baby when he wasn't breathing.

All those things aside, he knew that he had Rick. He'd had Rick for fourteen years, and he didn't think that was going to change anytime soon.

 

* * *

 

_Daryl was done for the day. His back hurt, his feet hurt, his head hurt, everything hurt. His seventh month of pregnancy had been the absolute worst by far. He was in pain everywhere, he was constipated, he was breaking out on his back like a thirteen-year-old would, he still had nausea, and he got to deal with Braxton hicks contractions every now and then._

_He only had one more week until he got to go on his maternity leave. He owned the mechanic's he worked at, so technically he could choose how much maternity leave he got, but he'd rather work a majority of his pregnancy, and then take a year off once Carl was born. He planned to take a year off, and Rick's was aiming for eight months. They were financially stable, so they knew that they could afford not to work._

_He obviously couldn't work on cars while he was this far along, he hadn't been able to since early in his third month, so he was just in his office all day, which was incredibly boring. He wished that he could be working on cars like normal, but he was also ecstatic about his and Rick's baby._

_He almost cried when he got inside the house and realized that Rick wasn't home. He just wanted his husband to get in the shower with him, wash his body and his hair because he couldn't be bothered, tuck him into bed with a good movie, order a pizza for them, and then cuddle the shit out of him for the rest of the night._

_He sighed and holding the box that had been delivered to the mechanic's that morning, he made his way through the house to Carl's nursery. He sat the box down on the seat of the rocking chair and ripped it open, knowing it would be some things for the baby that he ordered online. He was proved right just seconds later when adorable baby items that made him almost cry were in his line of sight._

_He started to pull the items out one by one and sat them on the dressing table beside him so that he could put them away later. He didn't have the energy to do that now._

_Out came a couple of sets of tiny onesies, in different colors of blue and green, and one that was in pink. He didn't give a shit about gender stereotypes, and the print had been too cute for him not to get it. He folded them carefully and then continued digging through the box for the items hidden in the foam peanuts._

_After digging out a couple of small stuffed toys, a set of pacifiers and some books that he could read to Carl as bedtime stories once he was born._

_The items made his mood a little better, but he was still upset that Rick wasn't home. He sent Rick a message when he got to their bedroom, asking him when he'd be home, and if he could grab a pizza (or two) on his way home. He stripped himself of his clothes and didn't bother grabbing any other clothes apart from a clean pair of boxers before he went into his and Rick's ensuite. He tossed his dirty clothes into the hamper and then turned on the shower._

_He and Rick had good hot water, and it only took a few moments to heat up. He sighed happily as the hot water rushed over his body, feeling like heaven against his sore muscles. What would be even more heavenly, if Rick was in the shower with him, on his knees, and using his sexy as fuck mouth to suck him off._

_After showering, he collapsed into his and Rick's big king bed that they had paid a fortune for, but it was so worth it because it was so comfortable to sleep on, and there was so much room to do all kinds of fucking._

_He was asleep within minutes, even though it was only six o'clock._

_*_

_Daryl's eyes fluttered open when he felt lips against his cheek, and Rick's warm voice met his ears, "Hey, sleepyhead," Rick greeted him, pecking his cheek once more._

_Daryl smelt pizza, and he rolled over and lifted his head, "Pizza?" he said._

_Rick snorted a laugh and helped him sit up, "I don't even get a hello?" he asked, stroking a hand over his head and placing a large pizza box in his lap._

_"Not when you're home two hours late, and there's pizza," Daryl grunted, opening the box and taking a bite from a slice._

_Rick chuckled softly and kissed his head, sliding his hand beneath the lid of the pizza box and over his bare stomach, rubbing his warm hand over his bump, "Sorry that I'm late, I had a bunch of paperwork to catch up on," he told him and then moved away again, "Now, I'm going to go and have a shower, and then I'll join you here, okay?"_

_"Okay," Daryl mumbled around a mouthful of pizza, reaching for the TV remote so that he could find something to watch on Netflix._

_"Leave me a couple of slices at least!" Rick called as he stepped into the ensuite._

_"No promises," Daryl replied, chewing on delicious pepperoni pizza._

_He heard Rick laugh as he stepped into the bathroom, and he grinned when he felt Carl kick against his stomach, and rubbed the spot where he'd touched, "You felt like pizza too, huh, bub?" he whispered._

 

* * *

 

Daryl tilted his head up so he could brush his lips against Rick's stubbly jaw, and Rick gave him a tight squeeze.

"We'll be okay," Rick whispered just as Daryl felt himself drifting off to sleep, "I'll keep you and Carl safe,"


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI  
> \- Some dialogue from this chapter is taken from the show.

Daryl frowned as he watched Rick squat down in front of Jim and offer him a gun, giving him the option to put himself down instead of letting himself turn. They'd been on their way to the CDC when the RV had broken down, and after they'd pulled over to fix it, Jim decided that it was his time.

Daryl could feel the sweat dripping down his back as he and the group gathered around the tree they'd laid Jim up against. Despite the fact it was now the start of September, therefore the beginning of Autumn, it was still incredibly hot, they were in Georgia after all. His mouth was dry, and his head was starting to hurt, he wondered if there was a way he could tell Rick he needed to have a lay down without concerning him.

"No, you'll need it," Jim said in reply to Rick's offer, his voice weak.

Rick moved away, and made his way to Daryl and Carl, "Come on," he said when he reached them, taking Carl's hand and placing a hand on Daryl's lower back and leading them down the hill and back towards the vehicles.

Rick looked up at the others while Carl settled against his stomach, and Daryl found himself beginning to feel nauseous and he began taking deep and even breaths, willing the urge to throw up to go away. He placed a hand on his forehead and rubbed at his temples, feeling sweat and heat beneath his fingers. He could suddenly feel himself get light-headed, and he swayed on his feet as he was overcome with dizziness.

Merle was the one to notice that something was wrong with him, "Are you okay man?" he asked.

That got Rick's attention, "Daryl?" he asked, stepping towards him.

Daryl reached his hand out and attempted to steady himself against the RV, but it was too late, the noise around him began to fade, and his vision went black as he started falling.

 

* * *

 

_"Tell me something," Daryl said as he joined Rick on the shitty couch the man had in his apartment, climbing onto his lap instead because that really was so much more comfortable than the lump of grey material._

_Rick's hands went to his waist, and he pulled him further on top of him, a small smile spreading on his pretty pink lips as he looked up at him, "Tell you what?" he asked._

_Daryl leaned forward, pecked him on the lips quickly and then reached his hands up and threaded his fingers through Rick's curls, "Something I don't know about you," he said._

_"I think you know everything about me, Sugar," Rick replied, slipping his hands under Daryl's shirt and squeezing his love handles._

_Daryl raised an eyebrow at him, "We've been together barely seven months, and I already know everything about you?" he said, tugging Rick's hair a little just because he could, "Damn, babe, how borin' are you?"_

_Rick snorted and nipped at his jaw, "Why don't you tell me something if you're so much more interesting than I am," he told him._

_Daryl hummed, grinding himself down against Rick's crotch, smirking when he groaned in surprise, "Could tell you plenty of things about me," he whispered, using his grip on Rick's hair to pull his head back, and Rick hissed at it, "Some good things, some bad things," he murmured, sucking on Rick's Adam's apple._

_Rick trailed his hands down to Daryl's ass, and he gave them a firm squeeze, "Well, trust me when I say that I want to know every single thing about you," Rick said, meeting his eyes again and looking at him with such intensity that it made a lump form in Daryl's throat, "The good, the bad, all of it. I want to everything know everything,"_

_Daryl couldn't have stopped himself from kissing him if he had a gun pointed his head. Rick moaned as he kissed him, their tongues gliding together as their hands roamed each other's bodies. When they finally tore their lips apart, Daryl let out a sigh and kept his eyes closed._

_"I can play piano," he said after a few moments._

_"Really?" Rick asked, sounding surprised, and Daryl opened his eyes again humming as he nodded, "Who taught you?"_

_"My grandpa," Daryl replied, "On my momma's side. He was a good guy, the only guy in my family that was gentle to me, let me be a kid," he explained, trailing the lines of Rick's face._

_"Was he Norman?" Rick asked, trailing his fingers over the spot above Daryl's heart, where beneath his t-shirt sat a tattoo that read the name Norman._

_Daryl nodded, "Mhm. He taught me lots of things, how to play the piano, ride a horse, cook,"_

_"What about hunting and tracking?" Rick asked, the heat between them earlier, cooling down as Rick gently encouraged Daryl to open up._

_Daryl shook his head, "Nah, that was my Uncle Jess, dad's brother," he answered, "He's a good guy too, never hit me worse than a slap up the head a couple of times. He punched my dad when he saw the blood from what he'd done with his belt soaking through my shirt. He was rough, an alcoholic like dad, but he was good to Merle and me."_

_Rick smiled softly, brushing his hands through Daryl's short hair, "Well, he must be a pretty good hunter from what I've seen you do," he said._

_Daryl chuckled, "Damn right he is," he replied, and then kissed Rick again._

 

* * *

 

Daryl was looking up a dirty beige roof when he opened his eyes, and he felt too hot and weak. He sucked in a deep breath and blinked to try and clear the slight blurriness from his vision. He could see from the window that they were driving, and he knew that he must be on the bed that was in Dale's RV.

Turning his head to the side, his eyes fell on Rick who was sat on the chair beside his bed, his head in his hands and Daryl could see his hair was wet with sweat.

Daryl licked at his lips, then spoke, "Rick," he said, his voice a little scratchy.

Rick's head snapped up, and he rushed forward, "Daryl," he said as he sat down on the mattress beside him, lifting one of his hands and cupping Daryl's cheek.

Daryl managed a small smile, "Hey, babe," he said softly, placing a hand on Rick's waist.

Rick sighed heavily, relief moving over his features as Rick's blue eyes bored into his own, "Hey, sweetheart," he murmured.

"Where's Carl?" Daryl asked, letting Rick help him sit up a little straighter.

"Up the front with Merle," Rick answered as he brushed his fingers through his hair, and then flattened his palm against his forehead.

Daryl nodded, "How long I been out for?" he asked.

"About ten minutes, give or take," Rick told him, and then reached for a bottle of water that was sat on the nightstand and handed it to him, "Me and Merle managed to catch you, so you didn't hit your head,"

"That's good," Daryl said as he sipped at the water, "Feel fine,"

Rick frowned at him and wiped at the stray droplets of water at his lips, "Daryl, you fainted, you can't be fine," he said.

Daryl shrugged, "I hadn't had anything to drink for a couple of hours, and it's fucking hot," he said.

"Daryl," Rick said, rubbing between his brows with his fingers, "I'm worried about you, Carl, Merle, everyone is," he told him.

"I'm fine," Daryl repeated, and he had to look away from the man's eyes.

Rick let out a huff and took Daryl's hand, "I've seen you hunting Daryl, you can go all day in that kind of heat, and it's never bothered you," Rick suddenly looked like he wanted to cry, "Baby, when the camp was overrun, did you get bit?" he whispered, his hand trembling where it held Daryl's.

"No, Rick, I wasn't bit," Daryl replied, squeezing Rick's hand.

"Scratched?" Rick asked, "Scratches could have the same effect as the bite, we don't know,"

"I'm not scratched, Rick," Daryl murmured.

Rick ran his hands over his face, and then leaned down to look at him, "Daryl," he said, his voice firm, "You need to tell me if something is going on,"

Daryl stared into his blue eyes, butterflies, and a lump forming in his throat. He'd left it long enough already, and Rick deserved to know. Daryl needed Rick to know, he needed the support from his husband, along with the extra protection and help with Carl that he knew he'd give him.

Daryl let out a gentle sigh, he glanced towards the door to make sure that it was closed and that whoever was sat at the front of the RV couldn't hear them. He wanted Rick to know, and possibly Merle, but not Carl, not yet.

Rick looked at him expectantly, and Daryl finally forced himself to speak, "I'm pregnant, Rick," He murmured.

He watched as the shock spread over Rick's face; his lips parting, eyes widening as he looked down to Daryl's stomach.

It could have been thirty seconds before Rick finally spoke, "What?" he whispered.

Daryl nibbled at his bottom lip as he repeated himself, "I'm pregnant Rick," he said, running his hand along Rick's waist to try and calm him down, "I found out the day you were shot, took the test about fifteen minutes before I got the call from Shane," he whispered.

Rick visibly swallowed thickly, and he then he sucked in a deep breath, "That would make you what? Two months?" he asked softly.

Daryl nodded, "Two months and about three weeks," he murmured, "I had a couple of fainting spells when I was pregnant with Carl, that's how I know I'm fine,"

Rick was quiet for several long moments, and Daryl remained silent to let the man process what he'd just been told.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Rick finally asked.

"I'm sorry," Daryl murmured, "I was scared, and still in shock that you were back. I wanted to give you some time to settle into what the world's like now, get your head wrapped around that before I brought up the baby," he explained, hoping that Rick wouldn't be mad at him for keeping the pregnancy from him.

Rick finally met his eyes again, tearing them away from where they'd been glued to Daryl's stomach, "It's okay," he whispered, eyes wet with tears, "We're going to the CDC, it'll be safe there. They'd have doctors and medicine, somewhere safe for us to wait out this outbreak is until things go back to normal,"

Daryl's face fell, and he reached up to cup Rick's cheek, "Rick," he said gently, "The world isn't going back to the way it was,"

"It has to," Rick argued, his eyebrows pulled together, and his lips pulled down in a deep frown.

Daryl shook his head, "Rick, you ain't been awake long," he started, "I've been here the whole time, I've seen the world fall apart. It ain't just here, it's everywhere around the globe. Things can't go back Rick,"

Rick stood up from the bed, "I don't believe that" he said, shaking his head, "God, please don't fucking tell me you told Carl you think that,"

Daryl sighed and looked down at his eyes, "He said to me that he didn't think the world was going to go back to the way it was, and I agreed with him,"

"Jesus Daryl," Rick grunted, "You can't say things like that to him. He's ten, he needs to have hope,"

Daryl huffed, feeling himself become upset now, "He needs to know that he can trust us not to feed him bullshit just to make him feel better. I'm not going to lie to our son, Rick, I'm sorry if you disagree with that,"

Rick muttered something under his breath, and then stepped back over to the bed and sat down beside him again, "I'm sorry, this isn't what we should be talking about now," he whispered, and he reached up to gently cup Daryl's cheek.

Daryl closed his eyes and sighed softly when Rick pressed his lips against his for a moment, Rick brushed his thumbs over Daryl's cheekbones when they pulled apart.

"Are you pissed at me for not telling you?" Daryl asked.

Rick shook his head, "No, I understand," he said, "I think I'm still in shock though,"

Daryl nodded, "I get that,"

"Do you know if everything's okay?" Rick asked, glancing down at his stomach again, watching as Daryl laid a hand over it but seemed scared to do so himself.

"I managed to go to one doctor's appointment before the outbreak," he replied, "He said that everything looked perfect, my due date's the twentieth of March, and it's the fifth of September today,"

"It was a month after your due date that you went into labour with Carl," Rick recalled, reaching for the bottle of water that Daryl had put down a few minutes earlier and taking a few sips himself.

"That's true," Daryl murmured, noticing that Rick seemed to be sweating a considerably higher amount, "I didn't have any complications with Carl though during the pregnancy or after, just that first minute after I pushed him out that he wasn't breathing,"

"God, I hate thinking about that," Rick sighed, looking disturbed at the thought of it.

Daryl smiled a little, "Me too," he murmured, and then tapped Rick on his waist, "Go get Carl, I want to see him,"

 

* * *

  

"Merle back off!" Daryl yelled when the man advanced on Rick.

They were at the CDC, and so far it appeared to be a dead end. The building was surrounded by the dead walkers, and those who hadn't even had the chance to turn.

Merle was currently upset with Rick that he appeared to have made the wrong call. Sophia suddenly let out a cry of fear, and everyone turned to see that a walker in military uniform was approaching them, and Daryl didn't hesitate and raising his crossbow, firing a bolt that hit it directly in the head and it fell to the ground. He may be pregnant and not willing to get close to a walker unless his son's life in danger, but he could still shoot his damn bow and hit his target.

"This place is a dead end, Rick," Shane grunted in Rick's face.

"Where are we going to go?" Carol whimpered, holding Sophia close to her.

"She's right, we can't be this close to the city after dark," Lori said, her voice terrified, she now had Carl latched to her side. Daryl made his way over to them, standing closer to Carl and keeping an eye on Merle who had his eyes locked on the dead bodies, making sure that no others got up.

"Fort Benning," Shane said, holding his own gun up, "It's still an option Rick,"

"On what?" Andrea hissed, "No food, no fuel? It's a hundred miles," she reminded them, Daryl liked her, she was a rational thinker.

Just as everyone began to run, Carl's hand clutched tightly in Daryl's own, Rick got their attention again.

"The camera, it moved!" he told them.

"You imagined it," Dale said, but Daryl and the others came to a stop, watching as Rick walked forward again.

"It moved," Rick repeated.

Daryl sighed and pulled Carl to his chest, kissing the top of his head as Shane and Rick began to argue.

"Gonna be okay," he told his son.

He squeezed his eyes closed as he began to hear Rick scream hysterically at the camera as he kicked and punched at the doors.

"You're killing us!"

Just as Shane started to drag Rick away, the doors opened.

 

* * *

 

Daryl was still processing what Jenner had told them; he was the last one left, the only one left in the CDC, other than him and the robotic voice that he spoke to, it was deserted.

They'd been taken underground from where they'd entered and were now in what appeared to be some sort of lecture room as he took blood from each of them, which had been what Jenner called the price of their admission.

Daryl stood up once Jenner had taken his blood, pressing the small bandaid he offered him over where he'd pushed the needle in, and then he held his hand out for Carl.

"Come on, bud, your turn," he said. Carl frowned deeply from where he was sat in Rick's lap, but after whatever Rick whispered in his ear, he got up and made his way over to him. Daryl could see that Merle was smirking from where he was sat beside Rick, his gun balanced against his knee and his dirty boots leaving marks on the floor.

Daryl placed his hand on Carl's head as he sat down in the chair. Carl had had needles a few times before, his vaccinations when he was a few weeks old, and then all the follow-ups that he needed.

"It's just a little pinch," Daryl said softly when Carl looked up at him with a worried look on his face, "You barely even feel it,"

Carl grumbled, but sat back in his seat and Jenner smiled at him as he took Carl's arm and rubbed antiseptic over the area before prepping another needle and vile.

Daryl stood by him and threaded his fingers through his greasy hair, hating how he winced when Jenner injected the needle into his arm. It was all done in only a matter of moments, and Daryl stood Carl up and wrapped an arm around him.

"Good boy," he murmured, kissing his head and leader him back over to Rick.

Rick smiled at his son and picked him up and sat him in his lap again, "See, it wasn't so bad was it?" he said.

Carl smirked a little and shook his head, so Rick kissed his cheek and made him giggle.

Rick looked back to Daryl and petted the seat beside him, "Sit down honey," he said gently, and Daryl was exhausted, so he was more than happy to do what Rick said.

He planted his ass in the seat and closed his eyes as he rested his head against his husband's shoulder, sighing softly when he felt Rick lovingly kiss his head.

 

* * *

 

Everyone around the table laughed as Carl pouted up at his two parents, big blue puppy dog eyes and all.

Jenner, after realizing that it had been days since everyone had eaten, had thrown what could only be described as a feast, complete with plenty of food and alcohol.

Carl was currently trying to convince Rick, and Daryl let him try some of the red wine that Rick and several of the others were drinking. Dale, who had initially been the one to pour everyone's first glasses, didn't think anything of it when Daryl said he didn't drink as an excuse as to why he wouldn't let anything but water in his cup, but Daryl had seen the confused and suspicious looks that Shane and Merle had given him.

"You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine," Dale said as he refilled Rick's glass, and everyone laughed again, "And in France,"

Daryl rolled his eyes, "Well if Carl's ever in Italy or France, he can have some," he said, looking down at his son and trying not to smirk at the face he was giving him.

"What's it gonna hurt?" Rick asked from his place beside Carl, swallowing down his mouthful of pasta, "Come on," and he had such a stupid grin on his face that Daryl couldn't say no.

Daryl rolled his eyes, "Fine," he said, and everyone cheered as Dale poured another (much smaller) glass of wine and then handed it to Carl.

Daryl smirked as Carl took a sip of the wine, and quickly scrunched his face up, "Ew," he exclaimed as he placed the glass back down.

Everyone broke into almost hysterical laughter, and Daryl kissed Carl's head, "That's my boy," he said.

 

* * *

 

Daryl watched as all of the others quickly retired to the rooms, all too eager to use the hot water that had been promised to them. Rick, Carl, Daryl, Sophia, and Carol remained in the hallways, the adults waiting patiently as the two kids excitedly talked about something.

After a minute or so, Daryl finally gave up letting the kids finish the conversation themselves, and butted in, "Kids," he said, and they both turned to him, "Why don't y'all go and play in the rec room like Jenner said? We'll come and find you when we've cleaned up and got ourselves settled, okay?"

Both children nodded and then eagerly trotted down the hall.

Carol laughed as she watched them, and then turned to him and Rick, "You two enjoy your shower," she said with a smirk playing on her lips, and then turned and made her way to her own room.

Daryl turned to Rick, who was clearly a little past tipsy and leaning against the wall, "Come on Sheriff," he said, taking him by the waist and leading them into their own room.

Daryl let out a sigh of pleasure as the hot water rushed over his body. Over two months it had been since he'd had a hot shower, and all the aches and pains in his body were desperate for one. He could hear Rick fumbling to get undressed outside the shower stall, but paid no mind to it as he reached for the soap and began to use it to scrub his body of the blood and dirt that stained his skin.

"Room for two?" Rick asked like an absolute idiot as he stepped into the shower behind him, wrapping one arm around him and kissing his shoulder, and Daryl smirked as he watched Rick's other hand place their tube of lube down on the shelf.

"Seems to be," Daryl said as he turned around, and he kissed Rick briefly, feeling the erection the man already had press against his hip.

Rick hummed, eyes scanning down his body and eyes filled with arousal as he licked his lips. He grabbed Daryl by the hips and pulled them close together, bending his head and beginning to nip and suck at Daryl's neck, "Fuck you're so gorgeous baby," he murmured.

Daryl laughed and pushed Rick off after a moment, Rick quickly pouted, and Daryl rolled his eyes, "Let's get clean, yeah? Then you can fuck me," he said.

Rick nodded, "Sounds good to me," he said.

They spent a good couple of minutes to clean themselves, Daryl taking the chance to clean his hole as best he could as Rick washed his hair. He'd cleaned himself that way every day before the outbreak; he and Rick had a healthy and regular sex life, and Daryl liked to feel his best for it, that involved being clean as a whistled and cleanly shaven on both ends (his own preference, but Rick didn't mind either way).

Daryl closed his eyes and braced his arms against the wall as Rick pressed him against the wall of the shower, his chest pressing against the warm tile as Rick wasted no time in popping open the lid of the lube, slicking up two of his fingers, and then pressing them inside of him.

Daryl moaned softly, and Rick kissed his back as he used his fingers to stretch him open, he was an expert at it by now, so it really didn't take him long.

"Come on, babe," Daryl encouraged, "I don't want to leave Carl by himself for too long,"

Rick nodded against him, and then Daryl could hear the lube being opened again.

He felt the blunt head of Rick's cock press against his entrance, and he closed his eyes, let out a deep breath as he started to push in. He stretched around him easily, the lube was good quality, and Rick really was just that talented with his fingers.

Rick let out a throaty groan when he was completely sheathed inside of him, and Daryl gave himself a few moments to adjust before he started rocking himself back against Rick's body.

Rick didn't need to be told twice, and he glued his lips to Daryl's neck as he started pumping his hips back and forth, his cock feeling so good inside of him that Daryl couldn't stop himself from moaning as he reached back at gripped Rick by the back of the neck.

 

* * *

 

Rick and Daryl walked into the control room that Jenner was in together, they'd gotten Carl showered and into clean pajamas before he started begging to go back to the rec room again as he and Sophia had found some board games. They let him go as Carol and Lori were in there anyway sifting through the collection of books.

Rick was a little steadier on his feet after their shower, but Daryl knew that wouldn't last long as the man already had a bottle of champagne in his hand again, taking sips as they walked together.

Daryl rolled his eyes as Rick obnoxiously knocked on the surface of a desk as they made their way towards Jenner, and he grabbed his hand so that he wouldn't continue to do it.

"How's the blood?" Rick asked.

"No surprises," Jenner replied, watching Rick, and then giving Daryl a look, one that Daryl quickly figured out.

"Relax, I know that I'm pregnant," Daryl told him, and Jenner nodded, seeming relieved that he didn't have to deal with breaking them the news.

"Do you have anything that could help with that?" Rick asked.

"What? Like an abortion pill?" Jenner asked, turning in his chair to face them.

"No," Daryl replied, "Even if that was what I wanted, it's too late for a pill," he said, "I meant any prenatal vitamins, stuff like that,"

"Oh," Jenner said, and then nodded, "Yes, I may have some of those lying around from the previous workers," he told them.

"Great, thank you," Daryl said, and Jenner gave him a small smile.

"We came to thank you," Rick suddenly said, swallowing a mouthful of his alcohol.

"You did?" Rick smiled and nodded, and then proceeded to fall on his ass when he attempted to lean back against a desk, "You alright?"

"He's fine," Daryl grunted, walking over and taking Rick's bottle from him, "He's just a damn lightweight,"

"You don't know what it's like," Rick mumbled, looking around the room, "You don't know what it's like out there. You may think you do, but you don't, we would have died out there, it was only a matter of time, there are too many of those things out there," his eyes were red like he was going to start crying, and Daryl watched him curiously as he spoke, "My boy, my husband, I didn't tell them what I really thought, I just kept us going,"

Daryl frowned, "Rick," he said softly, not liking how upset the man seemed to be.

"It'll all be okay," Jenner said.

 

* * *

 

The two of them left Jenner not long after and collected Carl from the rec room as it was getting late and he needed to sleep. Carl was a giggling mess at the sight of Rick stumbling his way down the corridor, and that every now and then he'd babble some nonsense.

Daryl got Carl settled on the large and comfortable couch while Rick went into the little bathroom to take a piss.

"You comfortable enough?" Daryl asked as he tucked Carl under the blankets and brushed his hair away from his face, loving how soft it now felt.

Carl nodded, "More comfortable than the tent," he said with a little smile.

Daryl smiled back and kissed his head, "Get some sleep, I love you," he said gently.

"Love you," Carl replied.

Daryl stepped over to his and Rick's bed and sighed as he laid down. The mattress was comfortable, and his aching back could have screamed thank you.

Rick emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, he kissed Carl on the cheek as he passed him, and then crawled into the bed behind Daryl, pressing his front flush to Daryl's back and wrapping his arms around him.

"I love you, Daryl," Rick sighed, kissing his neck once and then shifting to get more comfortable.

"I love you too, Rick," Daryl huffed, "Now go to sleep,"

"Yes sir," Rick slurred, and Daryl rolled his eyes at him.

 

* * *

 

"There's your chance, take it," Jenner said as he opened the door that would lead back out to where the group had first entered.

"Rick, let's go!" He heard Daryl shout at him, "Carl you stay close to me,"

"I'm grateful," Rick said to Jenner.

Jenner shook his head, "The day will come when you won't be," he said, and then grabbed him by his hand and pulled him closer, he placed his lips at his ear and whispered, "We are all infected,"

Rick's lips parted, and he looked back to his son, who was stood by Merle and clutching his hand tightly.

They reached the doors quickly, Rick feeling sick to his stomach that Jacqui, Andrea, and Dale had stayed behind to let the CDC's self-destruction kill them.

As Jenner had said, the main doors were still locked, and no matter how much Shane, Daryl, Merle, and Glenn hit them, nothing was happening. Rick was stood near Carl, desperately trying to think of what to do, a lump in his throat as he knew that they only had minutes left.

Carol, the apparent savior of the day, appeared in front of him then, and in her hand, she held a grenade.

"I found it in your pocket first day of camp," She murmured.

Rick immediately took it from her, "Everyone get back!" he shouted, and once they did, he threw the grenade, the deafening boom that followed making him cover his ears.

 

* * *

  

Rick tried to stop himself from crying as he drove away from the burning mess that was the CDC. He was relieved that Andrea and Dale had joined them again, but he'd had such high hopes that the CDC would be able to give them answers, somewhere safe. But, the CDC had left them with more questions than answers.

Rick thought of his husband and son, thought of the unborn child in Daryl's stomach that he was still trying to wrap his head around.

He'd promised Daryl that he'd keep them safe, but he had no idea how he was going to do that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We officially finished the re-write of season 1! onto season 2!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i've obviously been rewatching the episodes as I write this fic, and oh my god, I love Glenn so much. 
> 
> \---
> 
> FYI -  
> \- some dialogue in this chapter is taken from the show.  
> \- while this fic is a re-write of the canon episodes, I'm not going to do literally every moment of each episode.  
> \- Daryl & Rick's baby will NOT be Judith, but Judith is still going to be in the story, pretty easy for y'all to figure out how that'll happen

Rick's thoughts were broken when Daryl's voice filtered to his ears. They were driving in one of the cars, second from the front, Merle leading the way on his bike. Daryl was in the passenger seat beside him, and Carl, Carol, and Sophia were sitting in the backseats.

"I was just thinkin' about our trip to the grand canyon with Carl,"

Rick looked at him, and the small smile on his face was contagious, and Rick laughed.

"I don't remember that," Carl said from behind them, leaning forward in his chair.

Daryl shook his head, "No, you were only a bub," he replied, "And besides, we never made it past Texas,"

"You got sick," Rick said, smiling a little at the memory, "Never knew a baby could throw up so much," he said, and Daryl chuckled.

"Well, the doctor in Texas said you'd live, and we turned around and drove home," Daryl told their son, rotating between looking at him and Rick.

"Well, that sucks," Carl said.

Rick watched as Daryl shook his head, and he loved the sight of the fond smile on his lips, "Nah, it was a good trip. A real' good trip," he said, and Rick squeezed his hand when it petted his thigh.

"The best," Rick said, kissing Daryl's hand softly.

Carl was quiet for a moment, "Can we go see it? The grand canyon?" he asked, "I'd like to,"

"Me too," Sophia chimed in, "Can we go,"

Rick paused for a moment, and then glanced back at her, "We'd never go without you and your mom," he told her, "That's a promise,"

 

* * *

 

_"You couldn't have picked a dodgier motel if you tried," Daryl grunted as he followed Rick into their room._

_Rick looked over his shoulder at him, "Well it was either this, or we kept driving for another hour and a half in the dark to the next one, and I know neither of us wants that when he's as fussy as he is," he said, motioning to Carl who Daryl was holding in his arms, the seven-month-old squirming._

_Daryl didn't reply, but stepped over to the bed and laid Carl down on it as Rick placed their suitcases down on the chipped dresser. Daryl put the diaper bag down beside Carl and then began to ruffle through it to find diapers._

_"I'll go and get the rest of his things from the car; I'll be back in a minute," Rick sighed, brushing his hand along Daryl's lower back as he passed him._

_When he returned a few minutes later, Daryl was sitting on the bed, and humming softly to Carl, who was whimpering, wriggling around on the bed in only a fresh diaper. Rick smiled softly as he set down the travel bassinet and then carried Carl's much smaller suitcase to Daryl._

_Daryl took it from him, and zipped it open, "I'll feed him, then dress him and we can try and put him down," he said, grabbing a blanket that he could wrap Carl in so that the baby wouldn't be cold as he fed him._

_"I'll get his bassinet ready," Rick replied, searching through the suitcase himself to grab a blanket, a pacifier, and the stuffed fox that Carl loved to sleep with._

*

_When Rick stepped out of the motel room's tiny bathroom, his eyes fell on Daryl, who was very carefully setting Carl down in the bassinet. Tucking his blanket over him and watching him for a moment before he stood straight again._

_"He down for the count?" Rick whispered as he dried his hair, not minding that he was still naked._

_Daryl looked at him and sighed heavily, "He's starting to get a fever," he murmured._

_Rick frowned and wrapped the towel around his waist, "Oh no," he said softly, stepping over to the bassinet and looking down at his son._

_Daryl hummed, "He might sleep for an hour or so if we're lucky. We could have to take him to the doctors in the morning," he told him._

_Rick nodded and leaned down to gently kiss Carl's little forehead, his whips of hair tickling his nose._

_He turned to Daryl then, cupping his jaw and leaning forward to kiss him, tasting the gum he'd been chewing in the car._

_"Go and shower," Rick murmured, "We need to try and sleep before he wakes up again,"_

_Daryl nodded, "Yeah, keep an eye on him," he said, motioning to Carl._

_"Of course," Rick replied._

 

* * *

 

Rick could feel his whole body trembling as he looked at Carl, who was laying under the car beside him. Every bone in his body had him wanted to rush over to him, use his own body as a shield so nothing could get to Carl. That would give away their cover though, and the herd of walkers currently making their through the cars on the highway would come down on them.

He looked around for a moment, trying to see if he could spot Daryl anywhere, but unfortunately, he couldn't. He hoped that he had noticed the walkers were coming and had hidden somewhere safe instead of trying to find Rick and Carl.

His eyes moved back to Carl, and his heart lurched at the sight of the boy's face; his bottom lip trembling, his eyes wet. Rick lifted his finger to his mouth it a 'shushing' motion, desperate for Carl to stay quiet.

Just as most of the walkers seemed to have passed, there was a cry from Sophia as a final walker got down on the ground, and tried to crawl under the car with her. She sounded terrified as she whimpered and crawled away, and Rick cursed before climbing out himself, grabbing his gun and then charging after her as she ran into the woods, two walkers on her tail.

He ended up tripping as he climbed over the railing and off the highway, and he grunted as he rolled down the hill. He got his bearings again, and spotted Sophia just through the trees, and started to chase after her again.

It took several moments, but he eventually caught up to her, sneaking up beside her and then catching her in his arms. She let out a cry, and then relaxed when she saw it was him.

"Shoot them!" She whimpered, reaching for his gun.

Rick shook his head, "No, if I do that, it will bring all of those walkers back from the highway," he said, and then scooped her into his arms as he got to his feet, and started running. He reached a small creek, and jumped down into it, spotting a spot where Sophia could hide in the brush under the bank.

"Sophia, you have to do exactly as I say," he said as he set her down, and she nodded, "Hide in there, squeeze in tight, and I'll draw them away from you,"

"No, please, don't leave me!"

"Listen, listen," Rick whispered, holding her by her upper arms, "They don't get winded, I do. And, I'd only be able to deal with them one at a time, I wouldn't be able to protect you," he said, cupping her cheek as he looked into her big brown eyes, "This is how we both survive, you understand?" he asked. Sophia nodded and then climbed into her hiding space, "If I don't make it back, run back to the highway, back to the others, go back the way we came, keep the sun on your left shoulder," he told her, and then the two walkers entered his sight.

They fell down into the creek with him, and he started to run again.

Several minutes later, he was hiding behind a tree, holding a large rock in his hand as he waited for the walkers to get close enough. He took them down one by bashing its head in, and then the other by throwing the rock directly at its head.

 

* * *

 

"Sure this is the spot?" Daryl asked as he crouched down and looked into the little nook that Rick had hidden Sophia in. Shane, Glenn, and Merle were standing up on the bank, making sure that no others appeared.

"I left her right here," Rick said, "I took the walkers away in that direction, up the creek," he pointed down the creek, "She was gone by the time I got back here, I thought that she had just gone back to the highway,"

Merle jumped into the creek with them, and walked down it a bit, checking that he didn't see any footprints that were small enough to be Sophia's.

"Hey Short Round, stand off to one side, you're mucking up the trail," Daryl called to Glenn, and Glenn rolled his eyes and harmfully swore back at Daryl as he did as he was told. Rick had realized that there'd been a bit of friendly teasing between them over the past couple of days. He liked it; he was glad to see Daryl was making a new friend, that wasn't usually where his strengths lied.

"She may not even know her left from her right," Shane said.

"Shane, she understood me fine," Rick said, anger clear in his voice, and he caught Daryl looking at him out of the corner of his eye, and he could hear Merle making his way back through the water to them.

"Kid's tired and scared, man, just had a close call with two walkers, you've got to wonder how much of what you said actually stuck," Shane replied, always the negative.

Rick looked at him, his heart pounding in his chest as he dripped with sweat.

"There are clear prints right here," Daryl said, gaining their attention as he leaned down to look at the bank of the creek. Rick wished he had stayed back on the highway with the others, Daryl hadn't been feeling great all day, but he knew it was an argument waiting to happen if he said anything.

"She did like you said then," Merle grunted, starting to climb up the bank, holding his own crossbow, "Headed back to the highway,"

"Everybody spread out," Daryl added.

They started walking again, letting Merle and Daryl lead the way as they followed the trail.

"She was doing just fine until here," Daryl murmured a few minutes later as he squatted down, the leaves and stick cracking beneath his boots, "All she had to do was keep going, veered off that way for some reason,"

"Why would she do that?" Glenn asked softly.

"Maybe she saw something," Shane offered, "Spooked her,"

"Walker?" Glenn asked.

Merle shook his head, "Nah, there ain't any other prints,"

"So, what do we do?" Shane sighed.

"Best if you, Glenn and Merle head back to the highway, people will be getting scared. Let them know we're on her trail, and doing everything we can, but most of all, keep everybody calm,"

Shane nodded and stood back up, "I'll keep 'em busy scavenging the cars, pick up some other chores, I'll keep everybody occupied," he said.

"Can you watch Carl, Merle?" Daryl asked as he stood again too.

Merle grunted in response, and looked around the trees for a moment, "Y'all be careful," he murmured.

 

* * *

  

"Tracks are gone," Rick huffed, disappointed as the footprints in the dirt that they had been following, were now nowhere to be seen.

Daryl stepped ahead of him, "That's what you think," he said, "They ain't gone, she came through here," he told him, motioning to a spot between two trees.

"I just see dirt, grass," he replied. Sure, he'd been hunting with Daryl many many times before, but he usually just followed where Daryl went. Daryl told him a few things here and there, but never taught him.

"Do you want a lesson in tracking? Or do you want to find Sophia and get back to the others?" Daryl asked him, apparently quite snippy.

Rick decided not to speak anymore as not to annoy his husband and remained silent as he followed Daryl through the woods. They came across a walker after several minutes, with fresh blood running down its face, and Rick distracted the dead man as Daryl snuck up behind it and then shot it with his bow.

"What're you lookin' for?" Daryl asked as Rick looked at the walker's hands.

"Skin underneath the fingernails," Rick replied and then moved onto the walker's mouth. He gently pried it's mouth open, covering his hands and fingers with a cloth to make sure that nothing from the walker's mouth got into his skin, "There's flesh caught in it's teeth," he said.

"What kind of flesh?" Daryl asked, sitting down beside him, their arms brushing together.

"Only one way to know for sure," Rick huffed, and he pulled his knife from his belt and then ripped the walker's shirt open, buttons flying as it's pale and cold stomach was exposed.

"I'll do it," Daryl said, "I got a lot more experience cutting and skinning kills anyway,"

"I thought it might make you sick," Rick replied, sitting back to give Daryl space.

Daryl shook his head, "Still don't bother me," he said and then proceeded to plunge his knife into the walker.

Sure enough, Rick was the one to be grimacing and feeling queasy to his stomach as Daryl cut the walker's stomach open, and started to rummage around inside of it for it's stomach.

He gagged softly as Daryl finally yanked its stomach out, and he heard Daryl snort at him, "You'd think you were the one that was pregnant," he said and then proceeded to cut open the stomach.

Rick got himself together and helped him, and he winced as Daryl held up his knife with a chunk of flesh on it.

"This gross bastard had himself a woodchuck for lunch," Daryl grunted, and then flicked the flesh away.

"At least we know," Rick huffed.

"At least we know," Daryl agreed.

 

* * *

 

Rick frowned as he watched Shane and Lori from the window of the of the church that they had found in the woods while almost everyone in the group apart from T-Dog, Merle, Dale who had stayed back on the highway. The pair were arguing, which is what they seemed to be doing a lot these days.

Rick had seen it in Lori's eyes several times since he'd found them again, there were moments that she was scared of Shane, scared of her own husband. What was the most disturbing, was that Rick knew that Shane knew he was scaring her, and he didn't seem to care, he seemed to almost like the power he was holding over her.

"They fighting again?"

Rick jumped, Daryl's voice taking him by surprise. He nodded softly, "Yeah," he said.

"They've been doing that a lot," Daryl said softly, standing close to Rick, and Rick wrapped an arm around his lower back, noticing the man's cheeks were a bit pink from being sunburnt, "Ever since we left King's County,"

"Something's definitely going on between them," he said and then turned his attention to Daryl, "How are you feeling?" he asked softly, holding him by his waist.

Daryl smiled gently at him, "It's damn hot, but I'm fine," he replied, "Just gotta keep drinking water," he said.

Rick nodded, "Everything feel okay with the baby?" he asked softly, his stomach jumping with butterflies just at the word. They had barely talked about the baby, barely even brought it up since Daryl had told him he was pregnant.

Daryl nodded, "Feels fine," he said, "I'll be out of the first trimester next week, the riskiest part's over then,"

Rick swallowed thickly, glanced down at Daryl's still flat stomach, "Who knows?" he asked.

"Lori, Carol, and Glenn," Daryl replied, "Going to tell Merle soon,"

"I think we should wait a while until we tell Carl," Rick said, keeping his voice low so that nobody else could hear them.

"Yeah," Daryl agreed, "He's got too much to think about right now," he sighed.

Rick pulled Daryl into a hug then, holding his arms around his lower back, taking a deep breath as he closed his eyes. Daryl rested his head on his shoulder and rubbed his hand up and down his back.

They broke apart a few moments later and made their way to Carl who was sat on one of the benches in the church beside Glenn, and the two were whispering to each other.

After briefly checking on Carl, Rick felt sick to his stomach as he heard Carol begin to pray to the statue of Jesus Christ.

"Father forgive me, I don't deserve your mercy," She started, her voice weak, "I prayed for safe passage from Atlanta, and you provided, prayed for Ed to be punished for laying his hands on me, and for looking at his own daughter, whatever sickness was growing in his soul, I prayed you'd put a stop to it,"

Rick could hear the pain and desperation in her voice. He hadn't known Ed, but he knew through Daryl, the effect that abuse had on a person, and he felt sympathy for Carol, and he hoped she could grow past it now that he was gone.

"Give me a chance to raise her right, help her not make my mistakes. She's so fearful, she's so young. She hasn't had a chance," her voice was almost a whimper, "Praying for Ed's death was a sin, please don't let this be my punishment, let her be safe. Alive and safe. Please Lord, punish me however you want, but show mercy on her,"

 

* * *

 

Rick held his hand up for the others to slow when he spotted the deer through the trees.

After spending over an hour at the old church, the rest of the group had headed back to the highway under Daryl's guidance, and Rick, Shane, and Carl had continued on for a while longer to see if they could come across any game that they could easily shoot, and then take back to the highway.

Daryl would have been much better for the job, but he had quietly told Rick that he needed to get some rest, so he would lead the others back to camp, and Carl had stayed with Rick because Daryl didn't have the energy to argue with the boy about it.

They followed the deer a little, and then met it in a clearing. Shane raised his shotgun, ready to shoot the animal, but Carl had other plans.

"Hey," Rick whispered, and Shane turned to look at him, so Rick nodded down at Carl, who was carefully walking forward with a smile on his face.

Both Rick and Shane grinned as they watched Carl. Daryl had taken Carl hunting with him many times, but those times were only for fun, to find the animals and spend time together more than anything, but Daryl never shot the game when he had Carl with him, or take him to where he had traps set. Daryl had always told him that if Carl ever asked to hunt with him properly, then he would do so, but until then, he was happy to just spend the time with him.

Moments later, Carl was standing barely a meter from the deer, and he was looking at the deer, and the deer was looking right back at him. It was a beautiful sight, and Rick wished that he still had his phone so that he could take a photo of it.

Then, a gunshot rang through the air, and both Carl and the deer fell to the ground.

Rick stood in shock for several moments, his eyes on his son who lay still on the ground of the woods, and then his legs started to move of their own accord.

"No, no, no, no!" he cried as he dropped to his knees beside Carl, placing a hand on his chest and his other on his cheek.

 

* * *

  

Carl wasn't as light as he once was.

Rick used to be able to hold the boy in his arms, run as fast as he could because it made Carl giggle with excitement, he used to be able to hold Carl on his shoulders or swing him around like he was as light as a pillow.

Now, Rick was charging through a field, his ten-year-old in his arms, limp and pale as he jolted with Rick's steps. Both Carl's shirt and Rick's own was soaked with Carl's blood, and he could feel it against his skin.

Shane was behind him, hounding at Otis, the man who had been in the woods hunting, and then accidentally shot Carl when he hadn't seen him behind the deer.

Rick eventually gave up on waiting for the man and ran ahead after clarifying what house he was looking for and being told to ask for Hershel.

He could barely breathe by the time the farmhouse was within his view, he was dripping sweat, and tears were pouring down his face as he tried to carry his son. He could see an outline of a woman on the porch of the house, and moments later, he faintly heard her call for her father.

There were several other people on the porch by the time Rick reached the house, and an elderly man made his way down the porch steps, "Was he bit?" he demanded.

Rick tried to control the anger that was coursing through him, "Shot," he said, "By your man," he said, a sob building in his throat. He felt like he couldn't breathe.

"Otis?" A blonde woman asked, shocked.

"He said find Hershel, is that you?" Rick asked, looking at the elderly man desperately, and Hershel nodded, "Help me, help my boy," Rick begged, so many tears pouring down his cheeks that they blurred his vision.

"Get him inside!" Hershel shouted.

Rick started barking orders at everyone as Rick followed him through the traditional farmhouse, and Hershel led him to a bedroom where he had him lay down on the bed after he removed the duvet.

"Pillowcase," Hershel told him.

"Is he alive?" Rick asked softly as he blindly reached for a pillow and pulled the white case from it.

"Fold it, make a pad," Hershel told him, "Put pressure on the wound,"

Rick did so as everyone began to fill the room, having gathered what the old man had told them to. Rick stared down at his son with parted lips, he looked pale, so goddamn pale, and he looked dead, memories of the moments after Carl had first been born, when he wasn't breathing, came rushing back to him. He felt the same as he did then, terrified, useless.

Hershel placed his stethoscope of Carl's chest over his heart, and Rick could feel Carl's warm blood on his hands.

"I've got a heartbeat," Hershel said.

Rick let out a sob, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized that someone was grabbing his gun from its belt, but he couldn't care about that right now. His son was alive.

"It's faint," Hershel added.

And then the blonde haired woman from earlier was telling him that she could take over, and he was moved out of the way.

"We need some space," said the woman he had first seen on the porch.

"Your name?" Hershel asked as he leaned over Carl, and he had to repeat himself several times before Rick was able to make his mouth form words.

"Rick," he whispered, "I'm Rick,"

"Rick," Hershel started, "We're going to do everything we can to save your boy, okay? You need to give us some room," he said, looking back at him for a moment.

Rick backed out of the room and then made his way out of the house. His steps were clumsy and slow, and before he knew it, he was outside on the porch, and Shane was standing in front of him.

"Is he still alive?" Otis asked from where he was stood on the grass, panting heavily and his face flushed red.

Rick went to wipe at the sweat dripping down his face, and his hand came away with his face feeling wetter than what it had before, and he realized he'd just wiped Carl's blood all over his face.

"Here, you've got blood on you," Shane said when he began wiping a cloth over Rick's face, and then handed it to him so he could clean his hands, "Where is he, Rick? Is he okay?" Shane whispered.

Rick swallowed thickly, and stumbled backward, hitting the wall and then turning back into the house, Shane following behind him.

They made their way back into the room where Carl was, and Shane froze at the sight of Carl while Rick moved closer.

"Do you know his blood type?" Hershel asked from where he was putting pressure on Carl's bullet wound.

"A positive," Rick said, and he could slowly feel his head starting to come back to him, "Same as mine,"

Hershel looked relieved, "That's fortunate, don't go far, I'll be needing you," he said, and Rick nodded. Hershel looked to Otis then, "What happened?" he asked.

"I was tracking a buck, the bullet went through it clean," he said, his voice quiet and he appeared to also be in shock.

"The deer definitely slowed the bullet down, but it did not go through clean," Hershel started to explain, "It broke up into pieces if I can get the fragments out... I count six,"

Otis moved to the blonde woman and began desperately explaining that he hadn't seen Carl.

A sudden thought entered Rick's head.

Daryl.

"Daryl doesn't know," he whimpered, and his eyes started to water again. Shane came close to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder, "My husband doesn't know," he said as he started to cry again, and he couldn't give a fuck about if these people were homophobic, because his son had just been shot in a world with no hospitals, and his husband didn't know.

 

* * *

 

"Daryl will never forgive me for this," Rick murmured. He and Shane were sat just outside of the room that Carl was in, and they'd been talking softly amongst themselves.

"Daryl will never blame you for this," Shane immediately shot back, and hesitant as Rick had been about Shane lately, with what his behavior had been, Rick was glad to have him with him at that moment.

"How can you know that?" Rick asked, anxiously tapping his fingers against his thigh.

"Because when you got shot, even though it was my fault for not checking how many people were in that car, he never once blamed me, never hinted at it, never saw it on his face," Shane told him.

The door to the bedroom suddenly opened, and the young woman with short brown hair stuck her head through, Rick thought her name was either Maggie or Beth, he hadn't noticed who was who when Hershel referred to the two youngest women in the house.

"He needs blood," she said, and Rick quickly stood up and followed her into the room.

Maggie wasted no time in getting him ready, and Rick's eyes were glued to where Carl was on the bed, now awake and crying in pain as Hershel had some sort of tool inside of his wound.

"You hold him down," Hershel barked at Shane, and the man immediately did so.

Carl started to cry even more, trying to squirm beneath Shane's tight hold. Rick barely even felt Maggie jabbing the needle into his arm as he watched his son.

"Dad!" Carl screamed, his voice broken and completely filled with pain, and he was looking for his dad, desperate for him to make it stop.

"You're killing him!" Rick yelled at Hershel, his body trembling as he fought every urge he had to charge over to his son and stop the pain.

"Rick, do you want him to live?" Hershel asked, and Carl screamed again between sobs.

Carl went silent a few moments later, "What, what happened?" Shane stuttered, and Rick could feel his heartbeat in his throat.

"He just passed out," Hershel said, and then very carefully removed his tweezers tool from Carl's stomach, holding a small piece of a bullet between the ends of it, "One down, five to go,"

Rick swallowed thickly, "Is he going to survive that five more times?" he whispered.

Hershel sighed heavily but didn't reply.

Several minutes later, Hershel, Patricia, Rick, and Shane were the only ones left in the room. Rick was sat in a chair as the tube in his arm was connected to a bottle that was slowly filling up with his blood. Shane was stood by the window, and Hershel was taking Carl's blood pressure.

"His blood pressure is stable," Hershel said after a few moments.

"Daryl needs to be here," Rick sighed, running a now clean over his face, "He needs to know what's going on," he said, "I need to go find him, bring him back,"

"You can't do that," Hershel said, glancing down at Rick's arm.

"He's his father!" Rick exclaimed, frustration and even more anger building inside of him, "He needs to know that his son's laying here shot,"

"And he's going to need more blood," Hershel said, and then turned to Shane, "He can't go fifty feet from this bed,"

Rick sighed, and Patricia removed the tube from his arm, and he got up on shaky legs, and Shane helped him out of the bedroom. He sat himself down in the chair just outside the room and buried his head in his hands.

Maggie and Otis were sat just outside also, and both looked at him in search of answers.

"He's stable for now," Shane said.

Rick turned to Shane again, "Daryl has to be here, Shane, he has to know," he pressed.

"Okay, I get that," Shane said, brown eyes boring into his own as he leaned against a wall with an old photograph of a woman on it, "And I'm going to handle it, but you've got to handle your end,"

"My end?" Rick asked.

"Your end is being here, for your son. Even if he didn't need your blood to survive, there's no way I'd let you walk out that door, I'd break your legs if you tried, I mean you know that right?" Shane told him, a strange look on his face.

The statement wasn't comforting at all. It was once again, Shane pushing onto Rick what he believed was right, that if Carl were his son, he'd never leave him. It made Rick feel even angrier than what he was.

"If something happened to him while you weren't here," Shane continued, "If he slipped away while you were gone, you would never forgive yourself,"

Rick nodded, letting out a silent sob into his hands and then lifting his head, "Okay," he whispered.

"When you were in that hospital the one you were never supposed to leave, man, you should have seen Daryl," Shane paused to move closer to him, "The strength of that man, you can't imagine. That's you've got to have now, Carl, he needs that from you," he stated, and Rick had to agree with him there. It was probably the least threatening thing Shane had said to him in a long time.

Hershel came out a few moments later, and Rick, along with everyone else, stood up.

"He's out of danger for now," Hershel told him as he cleaned the blood from his hands, "But I need to remove the remaining fragments,"

"How?" Rick asked, "You saw how he was,"

"I know, and that was the shallowest one. I need to go deeper to reach the others," The old man said, and he seemed almost sad as he looked at Rick, "There's more,"

"Tell me," Rick immediately said.

"His belly's distended and his pressure's dropping. That means there's internal bleeding, one of the fragments must have nicked one of the blood vessels. I have to open him up, find the bleeder and stitch it, and he can't move while I'm in there, I mean at all," he told him, "If he acts the same as before, I'll sever an artery, and he'll be dead in minutes. To even try this, I have to put him under, but if I do, he won't be able to breathe on his own, same bad results,"

Rick swallowed thickly, "What will it take?" he asked.

"You need a respirator," Otis said, stepping closer to them, "What else?"

"The tube that goes with it, extra surgical supplies, drapes, sutures," Hershel listed.

"If he had all that, you could save him?" Rick asked, desperate for anything that would save his son.

"If I had all that, I could try," Hershel clarified, and Rick's stomach sunk a little, but he couldn't let himself lose hope.

"Nearest hospital went up in flames nearly a month ago," Otis told them, and then he seemed to remember something, "The high school,"

Hershel nodded, "That's what I was thinking," he said, "They set up a shelter there, they'd have everything we need,"

"The place was overrun the last time I saw it, you couldn't get near it," Otis replied, "Maybe it's better now," he added, and Rick knew that the man felt guilty.

"I said leave the rest up to me," Shane said, and Rick met his eyes, "Too late to take that back,"

"I hate you going alone," Rick replied, he wasn't going to argue about Shane going. He needed him to go.

Shane shook his head, and almost chuckled, "Doc, why don't you write me up a list, draw me a map,"

"You won't need a map, I'll take you there," Otis told him, "It's maybe five miles,"

"Otis, no!" Patricia said from where she was stood in the doorway to the bedroom.

"We don't have time for arguing, and besides, I'm responsible, I ain't gonna sit here while the little fella takes it on alone, I'll be alright," he told her, and she looked like she wanted to cry.

"Are you sure about this?" Shane asked the man, raising his eyebrows at him.

"Do you even know what any of the stuff he's asking for looks like?" Otis asked him.

"Come to think of it, no," Shane replied, huffing a soft laugh.

"I've been a volunteer ENT," he started, and then shook his head at himself, "We can talk about this later, we need to do this quick,"

"Alright," Shane said, nodding.

Rick looked at Otis, and he still felt angry at the sight of him, but that was the panicked dad part of his brain, the rational part, knew that the man was deeply sorry for what he did and wanted to help.

"I should thank you," he said.

Otis shook his head, "Wait until that boy of yours is up and around," he told him, "Then we'll talk, I'll go gather some things,"

Shane nodded, "It'd be best for you not to be here when Daryl gets here, he'll bring a storm," he said to Otis, glancing at Rick for a moment.

Rick knew he was right, Daryl would be furious.

Maggie walked up to him then, "Where is he? Your husband?" She asked.

 

* * *

  

 _We can't have just one peaceful day,_ Daryl thought to himself as he and the group ran towards the sound of Andrea's screamed. She'd been lagging behind the rest of them and had apparently run into trouble.

Daryl had already been worrying since hearing the single gunshot earlier, and now this just made him more stressed.

They arrived just in time to see Andrea of the ground, a walker about to fall down on top of her, and a woman come charging through the clearing on a horse and take down the walker with a baseball bat.

The woman quickly looked to them, "Daryl? Daryl Grimes?" She asked frantically.

Daryl frowned and stepped forward, "I'm Daryl," he grunted.

"You have to come now," She told him, "Rick sent me. There's been an accident; Carl's been shot," she said frantically, steading her horse who seemed a bit agitated, "He's still alive, but you've got to come now,"

Daryl felt his heart lurch into his throat and immediate nausea to his stomach.

_No, no. Not him too. Not Carl too._

It could be some sort of trap; he knew that. This woman could have Carl and Rick and was using a lie of Carl being hurt to lure him somewhere, but he was willing to take that chance.

He stepped towards her and took her hand as she helped him up onto the horse.

"Whoa, Daryl!" Glenn exclaimed, who had been distracted staring at Maggie for a good few minutes, "Are you sure?" he asked, eyes big and brown as they stared up at him.

Daryl settled behind the woman, and loosely wrapped his arms around in her middle, "I can't take the risk, man," he said.

"Rick said you had others on the highway?" The woman asked, looking at Glenn now.

"Uh huh," Glenn said, lips parted as he stared at her, and god he was hopeless.

"Backtrack to Fairbend road, about two miles down you'll see our mailbox, the name's Greene," she told him, and then Daryl lurched as he kicked the horse into a canter and they were off again.

 

* * *

  

It took them about half an hour, give or take to for them to reach the woman's farm. Daryl could see two figures on the porch of the old farm home, and he knew that one would be Rick.

When they got close enough to the house, the woman slowed the horse to a walk, and Daryl was off it within seconds as Rick hurried towards him.

Daryl was already crying; he could feel the sting in his eyes, "What the fuck happened?" he exclaimed, his eyes settling on his husband who looked pale and had obviously been doing a lot of crying judging by his head eyes and swollen eyes. His shirt was stained with blood.

"I'm sorry," Rick immediately said.

Daryl tried to step past him to run into the house, but Rick caught him in his arms and pulled him in for a hug. Daryl accepted it for a few moments and then was overcome with the overwhelming need to see his son, and he shoved Rick off of him and ran into the house.

He had no idea where he was going, so he just opened the first door that he found, and then froze at what waited for him inside.

Carl was laid on a bed, and he looked lifeless.

Tears poured out of his eyes as he moved forward, and he quickly sat on the edge of the bed as he placed a hand on Carl's cheek. He could hear the footsteps of Rick entering the room, and the soft sigh that the man let out.

"No," he whimpered, not his little boy. Not his precious boy. He sniffled and wiped at his eyes, and then very carefully laid himself down on the bed beside Carl, "Hey, baby," he whispered, gently brushing his fingers through his thick hair, "It's okay, daddy number two is here. It's gonna be okay, you'll be okay,"

He felt Rick's hand on his thigh, and he reached behind him, which Rick immediately grabbed and squeezed as he settled on the floor behind him. Rick stroked his hand up and down his thigh and gently rested his forehead on his ass as it was the only place he could reach.

 

* * *

  

"Slow down, dumbass," Daryl muttered as Rick fumbled standing up, he'd just given more blood to Carl and looked even paler now. Rick sighed, but let Daryl help stand him up, "How many transfusions have you done?" he asked.

"Only two," Rick sighed.

Daryl shook his head and guessed that maybe the lack of food and water is why Rick even shitter then. He helped the man walk down the hallway to where Hershel was waiting for them, and Rick took the glass of juice that he held out for him.

Daryl looked at Hershel, "So when Shane and the other guy get back,"

"Otis," Hershel replied, raising a grew eyebrow at him.

Daryl huffed, "Right, the fucking idiot that shot my kid," he hissed.

"It was an accident," Hershel said, not seeming to like Daryl language very much.

Daryl sighed, "I don't give a shit, he's still a fucking idiot," he said.

"Honey, they're doing everything they can to make it right," Rick told him, gently grabbing his wrist and rubbing his thumbs over it.

Daryl ignored him, "So when they get back, you'll be able to do the operation?" he asked.

Hershel nodded, "Yes, I'll do my best,"

"You've done this before?" Daryl asked.

Hershel hesitated a moment, "Yes, in a sense," he replied.

"The hell does that mean?" Daryl grunted, Rick's hand on his lower back doing nothing to calm him down.

"Daryl, remember we don't have the luxuries of shopping for surgeons," he reminded him softly.

Daryl raised his brows at Hershel, letting him know that he was waiting for an answer.

"I'm a veterinarian," Hershel finally told him.

Daryl went silent for a moment, his lips parted. He ran his hands through his hair and over his face, trying to resist the urge to scream, "You've done this surgery before on what, dogs, cows?" he asked, and his eyes were torn from the old man by Rick stumbling dangerously on his feet.

"I need to sit," he managed to get out before he mostly fell into a dining chair, and Daryl grunted as he helped him sit straight, keeping a hand on his shoulder.

Rick looked up and met his eyes, Daryl knew that they matched his own with how full of worry they were, "It's our only hope, Daryl," Rick murmured.

 

* * *

 

Daryl leaned against the wall as he watched Hershel pack up from taking Carl's blood pressure. It was dropping again, and Hershel had told them they didn't have much time. There was nothing they could do but hope that Shane and Otis would get back soon.

Daryl closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, he was starting to feel light-headed.

"Are you alright, son?" He heard Hershel ask him, and he opened his eyes again.

"I'm fine," he replied.

Rick shook his head, "You've pushed yourself ridiculously hard today, you need to get some rest," he said, just as Maggie appeared in the doorway, having changed into clean clothes since collecting Daryl.

"You're very pale," Hershel observed, frowning at him, "Are you unwell?" he asked.

Daryl shook his head, "I'm fine," he grunted.

"If you're unwell, I'm the one you should be telling," Hershel pressed.

Daryl mentally rolled his eyes, "I'm pregnant, for fuck's sake," he growled, and he heard Rick sigh from where he was sat beside Carl's bed, "You're a nosy fucker, aren't you,"

"Daryl," Rick scolded him, "Come on," he said.

Daryl huffed and looked to Carl, who still lay lifeless in the bed. He needed to be at his best for him when he woke up, "You got somewhere I can lay down?" he asked.

"My bedroom's free," Maggie offered, "On the condition, you take Rick with you,"

Daryl nodded and helped Rick stand up, and Maggie gave them a smile before leading them through the house and down the hall to another bedroom. She opened the door and stepped to the side; it was much like the one Carl was in, just a little more personalized.

"Someone will come and wake you if something happens with Carl, or if Shane and Otis get back," She told them.

"Thank you," Rick told her as Daryl was busy pulling off his boots.

Daryl heard the sound of the bedroom door shutting, and he crawled onto the bed, sighing at the feeling of the soft mattress, and keeping a watchful on Rick as he clumsily took off his boots.

Rick joined him moments later, laying on his side and facing him.

"Go to sleep, Rick," Daryl grunted, his own eyes closed.

Rick didn't say anything, and Daryl jumped slightly when he felt Rick's hand land on his hip, and then slowly travel upwards and underneath his button up shirt, he flattened his palm out against Rick's stomach.

Daryl swallowed thickly and forced his eyes open. He looked down towards Rick and found that his eyes were glued to where his hand was. Daryl reached one hand down, and carefully threaded it in Rick's greasy curls.

"I'm scared," Rick finally said, still not looking at him, "For Carl, for you, for the baby,"

"I am too," Daryl murmured, brushing his fingers through Rick's hair and watched as tears began to form in his eyes.

"God, I know," Rick said, shaking his head, "I can't imagine how scared you'd be being pregnant right now; no doctors, no hospital,"

Daryl huffed, "We'll be okay, I know we will be. We've been through too much shit for things to go bad here," he murmured.

Rick nodded, rubbing his stomach, where there was yet to be a bump, "I'll do everything I can to protect you, Carl, and the baby,"

"And you know I'll do the same,"

 

* * *

  

Daryl's hearing had always amazed Rick. They were in Maggie's room managing to get some sleep when Daryl had jolted awake, therefore waking Rick who'd been using the man's chest as a pillow.

As it turned out, Carl had woken up, and Daryl could hear his coughing in his sleep, and it had woken him. It was like when Carl was a baby, and Daryl could hear Carl through the monitor when all he did was make the tiniest of noises, while Rick wouldn't wake unless he was crying.

They'd made their way to Carl's room where they found him awake, he'd briefly been telling Daryl about the deer he had seen before he was shot, and Daryl was smiling and crying as he listened to him.

Now, Carl was on the bed convulsing in a seizure, and Rick was holding Daryl in his arms as he cried at the sight of their son in that state, when they couldn't do anything to help him.

When Carl was done, Hershel informed them that Carl wasn't getting enough blood to his brain and that he needed another transfusion. Despite the risks of taking more blood from Rick resulting in a coma or cardiac arrest, he offered his arm again, because he'd do anything to save his baby boy.

 

* * *

 

The night air was humid as they sat on the steps outside the house, the crickets were loud, and there was a distant sound of a cow mooing.

Just before Rick and Daryl had to make the hardest decisions of their life, Shane returned to the farm, with supplies he needed for the surgery to be carried out safely. Hershel had told them that they had no time life, and he needed to take the chance and operate without them despite how risky it was because otherwise, Carl was going to slip away. They, fortunately, didn't have to make that Carl and Hershel and Patricia were now inside, with the equipment, and performing the surgery.

Otis hadn't made it back, Shane telling them that he had sacrificed himself so Shane could get the supplies back to Carl. That had deeply upset Daryl, despite how pissed he had been at the man for shooting his son, he did understand that it was an accident, and he didn't want for him to die.

He felt awful when he'd gone inside to use the toilet, and he could hear Maggie crying from in the kitchen. She was a nice woman, and also very clearly a badass, he knew that he could get on with her quite well. He was about to join her in the kitchen and offer his condolences before he went back out to Rick, but he heard Glenn's voice in there with her and figured Glenn wouldn't appreciate him busting in. Daryl, despite how panicked he had been, had seen Glenn tripping over himself back in the woods when Maggie had shown up, and he figured the young man should have a shot.

Daryl really liked Glenn, he was clearly terrified of the walkers, but brave as hell and didn't hesitate in taking them down. He'd always been nice to Daryl and hung out with Carl a lot because the two had been into the same movies and books before the outbreak, and it left them with a lot to talk about. While a lot of the camp had shut out Daryl and Merle at first due to their appearances as redneck assholes, Glenn hadn't judged a book by its cover and had been kind to them since day one, but he clearly liked Daryl more than Merle, which was understandable.

Daryl was lost in his thoughts until the door behind them opened, and both he and Rick shot to their feet, despite the exhaustion slowly claiming their bodies, and Shane jogged over from where he'd been leaning up against the truck.

Hershel came out of the door, followed by Glenn and Maggie.

"He seems to have stabilized," Hershel told them, a small smile on his lips.

Daryl let out a deep sigh of relief, and he couldn't help the smile that spread on his lips, and he watched as Rick pulled Hershel into a hug.

"Thank you," Daryl said as Rick pulled away from him, "Really, thank you,"

Rick nodded too, "You can't understand how grateful we are," he told the old man.

Hershel was quiet for a moment, and then looked past them to Shane, "How am I going to tell Patricia about Otis?" he asked.

Rick turned around to look at him, "You go to Carl, and I'll go with Hershel," he said, and Daryl nodded.

Daryl quickly went to follow them inside, but a hand on his arm made him stop, and he looked beside him to see Glenn.

"Can I come to see him?" He asked softly.

Daryl smiled a little and nodded, and Glenn kept his hand on his arm as they entered the house and then made their way to where Carl was.

Daryl sighed at the sight of his son and sat down in the seat to the left of the bed. Carl was still pale, but he did look more alive than what he had earlier. He took his small hand and brought it to his lips; he pressed a gentle kiss to his soft skin as Glenn settled in the chair on the other side of the bed.

Daryl watched with curious eyes as Glenn carefully reached a hand out and pushed Carl's hair out of his eyes, "Hey little man," he said softly, smiling as he looked down at him, "You're putting the rest of us to shame, surviving a gunshot and an at home surgery, that's pretty badass,"

Daryl laughed at Glenn's words, and he felt his eyes prick with tears, "I don't recommend trying to catch up to him, might not get there," he joked.

Glenn smiled wider and laughed softly, brushing his thumb along Carl's cheek, "Well, maybe his little brother or sister could be a match for him one day," he said, looking over at him.

Daryl's lips pulled in a grin, "Yeah, maybe," he murmured, kissing Carl's hand again.

"Merle, he wanted to come, but he was pretty much throwing a fit that's how angry he was. Me and Andrea convinced him to stay on the highway with the others, keep an eye on all of them," Glenn told him, not tearings his eyes from Carl's face.

Daryl nodded, "Smart idea," he said, "He would have brought hell when he got here,"

Glenn hummed in agreement, and Daryl sighed heavily as he relaxed back in his chair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave more comments, I love them! 
> 
> Officially started season 2!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, this chapter isn't as long as the last one!
> 
> FYI -  
> \- Some dialogue in this chapter is taken from the show  
> \- Past child abuse is mentioned

Daryl sighed as he watched the rest of the group arrive at the farm, he was stood in Carl's room, and standing by the large window, he'd pulled the curtains back, and he felt sick to his stomach as he watched Carol get out of the RV, she looked exhausted and scared. He wished he could do more for her.

He did smile at the sight of his brother climbing off his bike, kicking down the stand and the resting his hands on his hips as he looked around.

It was early morning, only a few hours or so after sunrise, and all of the Greene farmhouse residents were already awake and up and about, and the group seemed to be set on setting up camp at the farm. It was their best option right now, the farm was surrounded by fences, which should keep them safe, as long as a herd didn't come through. The Greene's also still had running water, but no power, but it was still much better than starving out on the highway.

"Daryl," Rick said softly from where he was sat in the chair beside Carl's bed, and Daryl turned to him.

He found that Carl's eyes were open, and he was looking around the room. Daryl made his way over and carefully sat down on the mattress beside him.

"Hey buddy," Rick whispered, brushing his hand over his hair.

"Dad," he said softly, and moments later, his eyes met Daryl's, "Where's Sophia?" he immediately asked, swallowing thickly and then coughing.

Daryl looked to Rick and hated the frown on his face. He was just about ready to tell Carl the truth, and then Rick went and fucked that up, "She's okay," he said softly, glancing up at Daryl, and then quickly looking away at his glare, "But you shouldn't be worrying about that right now, you need to get some rest,"

Daryl looked away from Rick trying to ignore the anger he felt bubbling in his stomach and huffed softly as he met Carl's eyes again, "How are you feeling?" he asked.

Carl licked his dry lips, "Tired," he told him, voice weak, "And it hurts,"

Daryl nodded, and reached for the glass of water and bottle of pills on the nightstand, "Take two of these and drink some water, and you'll feel a bit better," he told his son softly.

"Okay," he murmured, and both he and Rick helped the boy sit up, and he winced when he heard Carl let out soft groans of pains. Daryl held the glass to his lips and helped him get a mouthful before passing him two of the white pills, which he swallowed easily.

"Am I going to be okay?" Carl asked softly after he'd taken the pills, and Rick and Daryl laid him down again.

Daryl frowned as he watched Rick lean down and kiss his head, and Carl sounded so scared it made Daryl's heart hurt.

"You're going to be fine, Carl," Rick murmured.

Carl nodded, and his eyes started to drift close as his exhaustion and the drugs began to quickly catch up with him. Daryl watched him as he fell asleep, ecstatic to know that he was going to wake up again, which only several hours ago, they had no guarantee of.

Daryl watched Carl until Rick took his hand and led him out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"We must be the luckiest sons of bitches that ever lived," Daryl said, snatching his crossbow from where he'd sat it on a nearby side table, and then leaned against the wall, closing his eyes and sighing deeply.

Rick huffed a soft laugh, "Yeah, I think so," he said, and reached out to touch Daryl's waist.

Daryl enjoyed the touch for a moment before he moved away, "Why did you lie to him?" He asked as he started to walk down the hallway and to the exit of the house, he wanted to go and check on the others.

"He doesn't need to be thinking about his best friend being missing in the woods right now," Rick replied, his footsteps heavy behind him as he was still recovering from giving so much blood, "He doesn't need to be any more stressed than what he is already,"

"It's wrong to lie to him," Daryl grunted, pushing open the door and stepping onto the porch of the house, getting the attention of some of the others who were setting up camp just across the yard, and under the shade of the trees.

"It's not when it's for his own good," Rick said, attempting to keep up with him as he mostly jumped down the stairs, "Shit, Daryl, slow down okay?"

Daryl rolled his eyes but did stop and turn around to face him, "What?" he hissed.

Rick looked surprised at his reaction, "Look, I get it, your hormones are crazy right now," he started.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Daryl growled, he didn't need Rick trying to blame things on his hormones right now, "Don't you fucking start the hormone bullshit," he yelled, and he knew that the rest of the camp could probably hear him, but he didn't care, he was pissed, "I'm pissed at you because you lied to your son, not because I'm a crazy pregnant man who can't handle his emotions," he shouted, anger dripping off him and he could feel the heat in his face.

Rick blinked at him a couple of times, his lips parted, as he quickly glanced back to the camp, who were awkwardly watching them. He let out a breath and then reached for him, "Daryl," he said softly, "Come on let's talk,"

Daryl shook his head, "Later," he grunted and started to walk towards the rest of the camp, holding his crossbow over his shoulder.

His cheeks were red as he made his way through the group to where Merle was standing at his bike. He came to a stop in front of him, and Merle nodded at him in greeting, "How's the kid?" he asked.

"Gonna be okay," Daryl told him, and he saw the relief that came over his brother's face, "Gonna have a hell of a scar, and he's tired and in a lot of pain,"

Merle huffed, "He's a tough kid, he'll pull through," he replied, giving him a soft smile.

Daryl smiled back, nodding, "Yeah, he is," he said.

 

* * *

 

Rick, along with everyone else, was quiet. A small funeral was being held for Otis, and Hershel was reading from a bible as he spoke.

Daryl, despite making it clear that he was very pissed at him, and then running off with Merle for a while after he had accidentally revealed to entire camp that he was pregnant, was now back with the group and standing by Rick's side, even letting their arms brush.

Hershel let out a deep sigh and looked up, his eyes falling on Shane, who looked ridiculous wearing Otis' old clothes as they were many sizes too big for him. Shane had been very quiet, and very off ever since he had returned from the high school alone, and it was worrying Rick.

"Shane," Hershel began, "Would you speak for Otis?" he asked.

"I'm not good at it," Shane said softly, shaking his head.

"Please," Patricia whimpered from where she was stood just behind Hershel, her face flushed red as tears poured down her cheeks, "You were with him in his final moments. I need to know that his death had meaning," she whimpered.

Shane looked at her for a moment, his mouth open, and then he stepped forward a little, "We were about done," he started, "Both almost out of ammo, we were down to pistols by then, I was limping, it was bad, ankle all swollen up. We gotta save the boy, that's what he said, he handed me his backpack and shoved me ahead, run, he said, I'll take the rear, I'll cover you. Then when I looked back..." he paused and glanced to Patricia before walking towards the stones that had been piled, "If not for Otis, I never would have made it out alive, and that goes for Carl too, it was Otis, he saved us both," he said and placed a stone down on the pile before looking to Patricia again, "Any death that had meaning, it was his,"

Patricia nodded and began to cry again.

Rick looked to Daryl, and the man met his eyes. He had a frown on his face, and he shook his head slightly. Rick knew what Daryl meant by that, he didn't believe what Shane had told them, something else had happened at the high school.

 

* * *

 

Daryl could feel the sweat pouring down his back as he and Merle walked through the woods. They were the only two out in the woods searching for Sophia, but Shane, Andrea, and Carol had traveled back to the highway to see if the girl had made her way back there. Rick had wanted to go, but he was under Hershel's instruction to not go anywhere, that he was still recovering from giving Carl so much blood and needed more rest before he did anything strenuous.

Daryl was starting to get disheartened, he and Merle had come across an abandoned house, and he'd been so hopeful that he would have found Sophia inside of it, but there had been nothing but old furniture and rotten food, and absolutely no sign of Sophia.

As they left the house, Daryl had spotted a bunch of Cherokee Roses growing in the overgrown brush by the house, and as Merle took a piss, he walked over and picked one to give to Carol.

"You ready to go?" Merle asked when he came back over to him from where he'd been pissing on a tree, "What the hell are you picking daisies for?"

"It's a Cherokee Rose," Daryl clarified as he carefully tucked the rose into his backpack.

"God, you're gay," Merle muttered and then began walking again, "Come on, princess!"

Daryl rolled his eyes, but a smirk played on his lips at the same time, and he slung his backpack onto his back again and adjusted the hold on his crossbow before he hurried after Merle.

"So," Merle said several minutes later when they were back in the shade of the trees, searching the ground for any sign of Sophia, and Daryl hummed to let Rick know to continue, "You're pregnant,"

Daryl sighed a little, "Yeah," he murmured.

"When?"

"Almost three months along," Daryl told him, stepping over a log and grunting at the pang of pain he felt in his lower back as he lifted his leg.

"Jesus," Merle hissed, "Here I was thinking you'd gotten knocked up when Rick first got back, and you had some magic dad powers that you could tell already,"

Daryl huffed a soft laugh, "No, I wish, though. Would give us long to sort our shit out, maybe find somewhere safe," he said, "I got six months before I'm pushing them out, gotta hope this place holds down until then, or we find somewhere else,"

"The baby would be dangerous once it was born," Merle grunted, "I mean, walkers are drawn to noise, and babies make a whole lot of noise,"

Daryl swallowed thickly, he'd been thinking about that exact thing lately, and it had him feeling incredibly scared, especially if the baby was going to be as much of a crier as Carl was, "I know, man, I been thinking about that too," he said, "But we'll figure something out, do our best to get somewhere safe before that becomes an issue,"

 

* * *

  

It was only a few hours away from dark when Daryl and Merle returned to camp, and Daryl made a beeline for Glenn when he spotted him up by the house, speaking Lori by two horses which were tied to the tree. Before he and Merle had left, the plan had been for Glenn and Maggie to help remove the walker from the well, and then travel to a nearby pharmacy to re-stock their medical supplies since so many had been used on Carl, and T-Dog's wounded arm.

Lori looked worried, and it made Daryl worry, he hadn't spoken to her properly in a couple of days, and he really needed to. Just before he reached them, Lori took something from Glenn and then made her way inside of the house.

Daryl watched her go, and then his attention was caught by Glenn, "Hey," the younger man said, smiling at him and wiping at the sweat on his forehead.

"Hey," Daryl greeted him, "She okay?" he asked.

Glenn swallowed thickly and looked almost guilty for a moment, "Yeah, she's fine," he said, and then decided to quickly change the subject, "What about you? You're pregnant and been in the woods all day,"

Daryl huffed, "I'm fine," he said, even though his lower back was aching something awful and his head was hurting, but Glenn was a worrier.

"Oh, I grabbed some things for you," Glenn said and began ruffling through his backpack, "I don't really know anything about pregnancy or babies, so I just grabbed a bunch of things, so I hope they might be okay," he told him and then pulled out a small paper bag, and handed it to Daryl.

Daryl looked inside the bag, found two small bottles labeled as prenatal vitamins, a few other bottles and tubes that he couldn't see the labels of, and two pacifiers, one a soft green, and another a soft orange.

He folded the bag closed again, and then gave Glenn a smile, "Thank you, Glenn,"

"I know it's not much," Glenn started.

Daryl cut him off and reached out to squeeze his shoulder, "Glenn, trust me, it's a lot. Stuff like this, it means a lot, I don't have access to baby boutiques or things like that anymore, so trust me, this is great,"

Glenn grinned, and his cheeks went a little red, "Well, uh, I'm glad to help," he said, "And Glenn's a totally awesome name if it's a boy," he added with a smirk.

Daryl snorted a laugh, and slapped Glenn on the shoulder, "I'll see you later, man," he told him, and then headed off in the direction of the RV, hoping that he'd find Carol in there.

Sure enough, he found her in there, sitting in a much cleaner RV, and he had pulled the rose out of his backpack and placed it in an old beer bottle, and had put his own bag from Glenn inside, not wanting to risk losing it.

"Hey," he greeted her softly as he looked around.

Carol gave him a little smile, "I cleaned up a bit, wanted it to be nice for her," she explained. Daryl nodded and placed the bottle down on the table in front of her, "A flower?" she asked.

Daryl shrugged a little and nodded, "It's a Cherokee Rose," he clarified, "The story is, that when American Soldiers were moving Indians off their land, on the trail of tears, the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much because they were losing their little ones along the way; exposure, disease, starvation," he trailed off a little and shook his head, "I lot of them just disappeared. So the elders, they said a prayer, asked for a sign to uplift the mother's spirits, give them strength, hope. The next day, this rose started growing right where the mother's tears fell," he motioned to the rose, "I believed this one bloomed for your little girl,"

Carol smiled at him, and wiped at the tears that were falling down her cheeks, "Thank you," she whispered, and he nodded at her and returned the smile before he quietly left the RV, ready to go to the house and see his son.

 

* * *

 

Rick looked at his people as he stood near the house with Hershel, how for the first time since he'd met them, they looked relaxed, safe even. He couldn't let that be taken away from him now.

"You need to reconsider," Rick said, looking to Hershel.

"I beg your pardon?" Hershel asked.

"Making us leave, you need to reconsider," he repeated and moved a little closer to him, "If you saw how it is how there, you would have never even asked, you're a man of belief, if you believe anything, believe that,"

Hershel hesitated for a moment, and he looked to be sweating just as much as Rick, "You're putting me on the spot," he replied, shaking his head a little.

"Yeah, I meant to," Rick told him and motioned back to his people, "Those people look to me for answers, I wish they didn't, but they do. But, I'm not asking for them, or myself," he started, staring Hershel right in his icy blue eyes, "I'm asking for Carl, and I'm asking for the baby that Daryl's carrying, who hasn't even had a chance to live yet. If you send us back out there, I can almost guarantee that baby never will get that chance," he told the man, and he could feel the desperation in him as he spoke of his baby, "After the price your friend Otis paid, the least you could do is consider it,"

"You're a plain-spoken man," Hershel said.

Rick shook his head, "No, I'm a father, Carl, that baby, and my husband, they're the only people I don't want to fail, and I feel like I do every day," he said sadly, moving to sit down on the porch steps, "I lied to him this morning, it wasn't a big lie," he continued, "But it was enough that Daryl got pissed, enough that I could be pissed at myself,"

"My father didn't bother with comforting lies, he used his fist," Hershel told him, and Rick looked up at him, Daryl floating into his mind, "He was a loveless, violent drunk, and no good to anybody. It drove me from home when I was fifteen, I didn't lie eyes on this place again for many years," he continued, and he didn't seem uncomfortable when he spoke, who unlike Daryl rebuilt his walls whenever he spoke of his father. Hershel continued after a few moments, "I was not at his death bed, Rick, I would not grant him that, and to this day, do not regret it. Some men do not earn the love of their sons, I don't see you, or your husband having that problem," He told him, resting his arms on his knees, "I see the way you and Daryl look at me every now and then, knowing that I'm a religious man has the both of you fearing of certain beliefs I may have,"

Rick watched as Hershel sat down beside him, "And do you have those beliefs?" he asked.

Hershel considered his words for a moment, "The way I was raised, it was a sin, it was wrong, and I'm sad to say I believed that for many years," He told him, "And then Maggie brought home her best friend when she was sixteen, and god was he as gay as they come, but he helped Maggie through a lot of problems and was one of the most gueneuine young men I'd ever come across. I decided then, that how I felt about people, would no longer be based on things as small as that,"

Rick nodded as he took in Hershel's words, "Would you reconsider my request?" he finally asked.

"There are certain aspects to this, things I won't discuss," the old man started, "But if you and your people respect my rules, no promises, but I will consider it, you have my word," he told him.

Rick nodded, "Thank you," he said and rose to his feet again, and then held his hand out for Hershel, and the man shook it firmly.

 

* * *

 

Rick leaned forward when he saw Carl flicker his eyes open, he was sat in the bedroom with the boy, and Daryl was down the hall in Maggie's room getting some sleep. Daryl had been sitting with Carl for over an hour, so Rick sent him away, insisting him that he could sit with him. While everyone else was strictly not allowed in the house for other than using the toilets and getting fresh water, Hershel was letting Rick and Daryl sleep inside because of Carl.

It was an hour or so after dark, and Rick had been watching Carl for a while now. Daryl was clearly exhausted after being in the woods all day, and Rick was worried.

"Dad," Carl murmured.

Rick scooted his chair closer and placed his hand on Carl's head, "Hey, sweetheart," he murmured, "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Not hurting so much as before," Carl said after a moment, carefully lifting his hand and rubbing at his eyes, "Still tired though,"

Rick nodded, "It's late, you can go back to sleep soon, I'll just get you to get up and go to the toilet and try and have something to eat," he told the boy, who looked so small in the large bed.

"Okay," he said, looking a little sleepy, but still alert.

Rick sighed and looked down at his hands, "Carl, I lied to you this morning about Sophia," he said softly.

Carl cut him off, "I know, dad told me," he murmured, and that didn't surprise Rick, Carl would have asked about Sophia again, and Daryl wouldn't have even thought of lying to him.

Rick sighed softly, "I didn't mean to lie, I just didn't want to worry you. I know it's not a good excuse,"

"It's okay," Carl told him, "Do you think we'll find her?" he asked.

"I know we will," Rick replied, "Well, I don't know, but I really do believe it," he said.

Carl looked at him for a moment, "You look tired," he murmured.

Rick laughed softly, "Yeah I am," he said.

Carl suddenly grinned, "I'm like you now," he started, "We've both gotten shot," he said, sounding excited.

Rick laughed softly, "I think your dad much prefers to hear that we have the same eyes," he said.

Carl smiled, "You know, dad told me that when he first met you, that he fell in love with your eyes as soon as he saw them," he murmured.

Rick's lips spread in a broad smile, "Yeah, he's told me that a couple of times before. Despite your dad's appearances, he can actually be romantic," he told his son. Carl laughed, and Rick looked down at the Sheriff's hat that he held in his lap, he grabbed it, "You know, you get to wear the hat now,"

He placed the hat down on Carl's head and smiled when it slipped down because of how too big it was, "Won't you miss it?" Carl asked, touching the hat and adjusting it on his head.

"Maybe you'll let me borrow it sometime," Rick replied.

 

* * *

 

_Rick grunted as turned the corner of the street, and his chest immediately smacked into someone else's, sending the other person's coffee all over the both of them._

_"Ah fuck," he heard the man grumble._

_"God, I am so sorry," Rick immediately said, having bent down to pick up the dropped coffee cup and the couple of bags that he had dropped, "I didn't see you as I turned the corner,"_

_"It's fine," the other man said, "Just bad timing,"_

_Rick nodded and proceeded to get to his feet. His eyes landed on the man he'd run into when he was standing straight again, and he forgot how to breathe for a few seconds. He was absolutely gorgeous, handsome features, messy hair, and absolutely piercing ocean blue eyes, the most beautiful eyes Rick had ever seen._

_His forced in a breath, as the man stared right back at him, and he cleared his throat and forced himself to attempt to speak, "Sorry again," he said, handing the cup back even though it was empty._

_"Don't worry about it man," He said after staring right back at Rick for a couple of seconds, his cheeks red as he turned and threw the empty cup into a nearby trash can._

_"Hey," Rick said, a little too loudly, and the man raised a brow at him, "Maybe I could buy you another coffee? I owe you one," he offered, butterflies beginning to stir in his stomach._

_Mystery man looked at him for a moment, Rick even saw his eyes go up and down, and then he grunted and nodded, "Okay," he said and then turned on his heels and started walking back down the street._

_Rick grinned and jogged after him, "I'm Rick," he said._

_"Daryl," the other man said, glancing over at him, and offering him a tiny smile._

 

* * *

  

Rick stared at Rick's back for a moment, watching as the man looked at himself in the vanity mirror of Maggie's bedroom. He'd come in from Carl a few minutes ago, having been quiet to not wake Daryl, but he hadn't succeeded.

"Babe, come on," Daryl told him after a few moments.

Rick glanced back over his shoulder at him and then nodded before he began to undo his belt and push his jeans down his legs, leaving himself in just his boxers.

Daryl watched as he did, wishing that he had the energy to properly appreciate the sight of Rick almost entirely naked in front of him, but all he could do was open his arms, and offer himself to Rick.

Rick sighed, and quickly dropped down on the bed, pulling back the covers and then climbing in with Daryl. He settled on his side facing him, with one of Daryl's arms around his shoulders, and Daryl used his other hand to trace his fingers over the scar that Rick had on his stomach, the one that the bullet he'd been shot with Carl, and he hated that Carl would soon have one to match.

"I'm sorry for earlier today," Rick said softly, "For trying to blame you being upset on pregnancy hormones, I don't know what I was thinking. It was unfair, rude, and disrespectful, I'm sorry,"

Daryl smiled softly at him, and scratched his fingernails down Rick's back gently, in the way he knew he liked, "It's okay," he whispered, "Just don't do it again," he said.

Rick chuckled, "I won't," he murmured.

Daryl just observed his pretty face for a moment before he sighed heavily, "Carl's going to have to grow up too fast, isn't he?" he asked softly, quieter than the chirping crickets outside the house.

Rick was silent for several long moments, then he let out a long, shaky breath, "Yeah, baby, he is," he whispered.

Daryl closed his eyes and tried not to cry.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI   
> \- some dialogue taken from the show

"Hey," Daryl greeted as he sat down on the log beside Lori. She was eating her breakfast, and was a little further off from all of the others who were sat around the campfire and eating their breakfast.

Lori had been off ever since they had left the CDC almost a week earlier, but she had gotten even worse over the past couple of days, and it was time that Daryl spoke to her. He'd been neglecting their friendship for a long time, and he was starting to feel guilty about it, especially since Carl was well on the mend now, and Rick was mostly back to his usual self.

Lori forced herself to give him a small smile, "Hi," she replied, "How are you feeling?"

Daryl shrugged, "Fine," he replied, "Just stressed, and this heat is a fucking pain, but my son's not going to die, so I can deal with all that other bullshit," he told her.

She nodded, "You don't know how relieved I am about that," she sighed, running a hand through her messy hair, "God, I was terrified for him, for you, Rick," she told him, "I can't imagine either of you having to go through losing him. I remember what it was like losing my son, and I didn't get those ten years of bonding that you two have,"

Daryl frowned, Lori very rarely brought up Kaiden, as it was always too painful for her and Shane to even think about.

"I'm relieved too," Daryl eventually settled on, "Losing him… He and Rick are the only things keeping me going, the baby too. If it weren't for them, I would have given up already, I want to survive for them," he sighed, running his hand through his hair, and then turning his head to look at her.

Her eyes were red and watering, and she swallowed thickly before speaking, "I'm pregnant," she whispered, "I don't know how far along, could be recently, or it could have been three months ago,"

Daryl's brows raised slightly, "Did Glenn get you the pregnancy test?" he asked, reaching out and taking her hand to squeeze it softly.

She nodded, and wiped at her eyes, "Yeah," She replied, "I haven't told Shane yet, I don't even want to," she said and looked up to meet his eyes, "I see what he's like with Carl, and it's not healthy, Daryl he believes Carl is his son, or that he should be. He's so resentful towards you and Rick because of Carl, he obsessively talks about how you two aren't parenting him right, that you shouldn't have let him join y'all in the woods," Lori began to tell him, waving her hands as her face flushed, "Hell, he even brought up the whole gay thing,"

Daryl rolled his eyes, and gently laid a hand over his stomach, "Before the outbreak, he was great, a good uncle, and he obviously loved Carl. It became a little unhealthier after you lost Kaiden, but ever since the outbreak, and we thought Rick was dead, it's gotten so much worse. It's scary… it's been making me doubt whether he ever thought Rick was dead when he was back at that hospital, or if he just saw an opportunity,"

Lori nodded, "I've been thinking that too. I never used to, but recently, he scares me, Daryl, I'm scared of what he might to do to me if he gets angry, what he'll do to you and Rick to get to Carl, to anyone else," she told him, and then she laughed, "I used to think we were a fairytale, that we could never be more in love. Jesus was I wrong,"

"You can't blame yourself for that change, Lori," he told her, running his thumb along her knuckles.

Lori smiled at him softly, and then looked down at her hands, picking at the dirt under her nails, "Back at the CDC, after you and Carl had taken Carl back with you, and Carol the same with … he tried to rape me," She admitted softly, and Daryl's lips parted, "He was so drunk, he didn't even know what he was doing," she murmured.

Daryl shook his head, "It ain't no excuse if he was drunk, he did it, and that was enough," he told her, and he could feel the rage bubbling in his stomach. Lori was his closest friend other than Rick and Carl, and Shane had been too, but that was long gone.

"Has Rick ever done anything like that to you?" Lori asked softly, picking at her plate of food, and Daryl hadn't even eaten yet.

Daryl frowned, "No," he said, "There's been a couple of times when he was so horny he got a little pushy, but he understood no, and he never tried to do anything that I didn't want to do," he remembered the time, Rick had had a long day, and so had Daryl, and while Rick was in the mood to let off steam, Daryl just wanted to sleep. Rick had been a little pushy, and Daryl told him that if he didn't stop he'd be kicking him out of their apartment and he could go and sleep on Shane's couch. Rick had been immediately apologetic and felt awful for not realizing how uncomfortable he was making Daryl feel.

Loru sighed heavily and wiped at her eyes which had been watering, "What am I going to do?" she asked, her eyes staring into his own desperately, "What if this goes the same way as Kaiden? Needing a c-section if I don't lose the baby before then, I won't survive that," she whispered, "Not without a real doctor, a hospital,"

Daryl felt his gut twist uncomfortably just at the thought of it, "We don't know that it will come to that, you could deliver this baby just fine... and you don't even have to go to that stage," he whispered, meeting her eyes again, "You could ask Glenn to go back to the pharmacy, get some pills,"

Lori shook her head, "I don't know," she whispered.

Daryl nodded, "That's okay," he murmured, "But you have it as an option,"

"Thank you," she murmured, squeezing his hand.

 

* * *

 

 

_Daryl was glad for the cooler temperature as he sat on the bonnet of Shane's patrol car. They were just outside of Atlanta, and Shane thought they'd be at the refugee center by the morning._

_The road was full of cars at a stop, and everyone else was also outside of their vehicles. Daryl had a curious eye on Carl, who was sat in the back of a van with a girl called Sophia, who was his age, and the pair were playing checkers together. The girl's mother was sweet and had offered to get Carl food just minutes ago, but Daryl had heard her quickly be chewed out by her husband, and then she had made up a lie that she must have misplaced the food. Daryl didn't press, he knew that kind of man._

_Lori and Merle were leaning up against the side of Shane's car and talking. Daryl sighed and ran his hand through his hair before jumping off the bonnet of the car, and he made his way to the driver's seat where Shane was sitting with the door open._

_"You gettin' anything?" he asked, watching as Shane continued to fiddle with the radio in his car._

_Shane shook his head, "No, there's nothing," he murmured._

_Daryl sighed, "That ain't a surprise," he said, standing straight again and cracking his neck._

_"No, I mean nothing," Shane said and climbed out of the car, stress completely washed over his features, "No recordings about the refugee center, no radio broadcasts, nothing. It's completely silent,"_

_"Shit," Daryl sighed heavily._

_"I'm going to go and walk the road," He said._

_Daryl nodded, "I'll come with you," He replied, and then looked to Merle and Lori, "The two of you keep an eye on Carl," he told them._

_"Where y'all going?" Merle asked, a deep frown on his aged features._

_"To walk the road, see if we can find anyone who knows something," Daryl replied and stepped over to Carl, the boy looking up at him curiously, "We'll be back soon, okay?"_

_"I can come with you," Carl offered, big blue eyes staring up at him._

_Daryl shook his head, "No, baby. You stay here," he said, and he leaned down to kiss his head before he turned and he and Shane began down the highway._

_"Why would they turn the broadcasts off?" Daryl asked as they walked through the crowd of people and cars._

_"I don't know," Shane replied._

_"Could they be turning people away?" he said, "At the refugee center?"_

_"They'd have a riot on their hands if they tried," Shane grunted, picking up his pace, and Daryl huffed as he followed after him._

_*_

_Daryl looked out at the city with his heart pounding in his chest, and nausea swirling in his stomach. He could hear the thundering of the helicopters as they flew over the city._

_His eyes widened as he watched the choppers drop something, and then there were loud explosions as he watched fires start up in the streets of the city._

_"Fuck, they're dropping napalm in the streets," Shane said, resting his hands on his head._

_Daryl let out a shaky breath and took a couple of steps to be closer to Shane. Shane wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer, they fell into a hug and Daryl wrapped his arms around him as he tried not to cry._

 

 

* * *

 

 

Daryl pulled on one of Rick's flannels on over his tank top as the man went through the new grids that he was assigning everyone to search for Sophia. They were around one of the cars, and Rick was using the bonnet as a table to display the map on.

Jimmy, one of the farm hands, had just offered to help them search, and Rick was thanking him before he continued handing out instructions.

"About what Daryl and Merle found, we don't know it was Sophia, anyone could have been holed up in the old farmhouse," Shane grunted, sitting in the seat of the car.

"Anyone, that includes her right?" Andrea pointed out, and Daryl smirked a little.

"Whoever it was, to sleep in that cupboard, they couldn't have been more than yay high," Daryl clarified, glancing over at Merle who nodded in agreement.

"Good lead," Andrea said.

Daryl nodded and pointed to the map, "I'm gonna head up to this ridge here, it'll give me a good view, I might be able to see her from up there," he told them.

Rick nodded, "You taking Merle with you?" he asked, squinting in the sunlight as he looked at him.

Merle answered for him, "You shouldn't have your two best trackers in the same place," he said, "I'll go with Andrea," he said, winking at the blonde.

Andrea rolled her eyes but smirked a little as the others chuckled. Despite how much shit those two gave each other, they actually got along well, and were friends, though Daryl knew that Merle probably wanted to be more.

Rick smirked at them too, and then met Daryl's eyes again, "I assume it would be stupid of me to believe that you'd take someone with you?" he asked one of his eyebrows raised.

"Anyone other than Merle would slow me down," he replied, "I'll be fine," he said a little softer, reaching his hand out and rubbing Rick's lower back for a moment.

"Don't you think that's a bad idea?" Shane grunted, now having stood up from the car, "Given your current situation,"

And there it was, Shane was already moving onto his second child.

"Neither me or my baby, or Carl while we're at it, are any of your concern Shane," he told him, a glare on his face and he could see the anger flash over Shane's features.

"Your own damn fault if something happens to it," Shane replied.

Daryl went to step forward, ready to raise his fist and break Shane's nose, but he was held back by both Merle and Rick.

Daryl swallowed thickly and looked at Rick, "If I ain't back by dark, that's when you come lookin'," he told him, and Rick nodded. Daryl leaned up and kissed him gently and quickly before he swung his crossbow over his shoulder and began to make his way towards the woods.

 

* * *

 

 

It was starting to cooler now that it was the beginning of September - Autumn - but in the middle of the day, even though he wasn't in the sun, the humidity was nasty. He'd drank all of his water already, and his clothes were covered in sweat. He'd reached the top of the ridge, just like he wanted, and he had a good view of the creek down below the ridge.

His eyes were scanning every inch of what he could see, and his gaze narrowed in on a doll, sitting amount a couple of fallen branches. He knew it was Sophia's, the little girl had it glued to her side ever since he had first met her.

He let out a deep sigh and then began to descend down the ridge to collect the doll and see if he could see any other signs of Sophia.

 

* * *

 

He got down the ridge just fine, and the doll being Sophia's was confirmed when he picked it up. The mental image of Sophia and Carl playing board games in the CDC, Sophia's doll in her lap, filtered into his mind.

He sighed heavily as he stared at the doll, and he took a moment to sit down on the damp log. He ran a hand through his messy hair and tried to ignore the stinging in his eyes.

The sound of twigs breaking met his ears, and he looked up.

"Sophia?" he called, standing up and aiming his crossbow.

There was more noise as whatever it was made its way through the trees, and it was no surprise when a walker emerged from the trees; he could hear the uneven steps, the growling.

He didn't hesitate in firing the bolt from his crossbow, and the walker fell to the ground with a thud. He looked at it for a few moments, and then the all too familiar feeling came over him.

He tried to suck in a deep breath as his head began to spin, and his vision went hazy. He tripped backward a couple of steps, attempted to catch himself even though there was nothing for him to grab, and then he could fall himself falling the ground. Before he blacked out, he heard the crack of his own head connecting with the rocks, and a sharp pain in his side.

 

* * *

 

 

When he woke again, the harsh glare of the sun blazing down at him had his head pounding, and he let out a soft groan. He could feel a sharp ache in his side, and it made him wince, looking down, in his blurry vision, he could see his shirt was stained red, along with the rock beneath him.

Then he felt it, a soft nudging against his foot. He lifted his head and looked down, and the sight of an ugly, snarling walker biting at his boot greeted him. All of his strength managed to come back to him at that moment, and he quickly kicked his foot, sending the walker flying across the rock.

He scrambled backward and widely looked around for his crossbow, and it made his head pound even worse. He couldn't find his crossbow, but his hand grasped on a branch.

Just as the walker came at him again, he swung, hitting the walker up the side of the head and knocking it back. He climbed on top of its chest, holding the branch across its neck. He heard more snarling and looked up to find that another walker was making its way through the water and towards him.

He lifted the branch from the walker's neck, for just a moment, and then grunted as he brought it down again, smashing it onto the walkers head, and then continued to do so until it stopped snarling at him. He climbed off the walker and looked behind him, his eyes landed on his crossbow, which unfortunately for him, wasn't loaded.

He whimpered and held at his bleeding side (which he still didn't know why it was bleeding, he hadn't had the chance to check if it was a bite) and scooted back towards his crossbow. He grabbed it, along with the loose bolt near it, and he groaned in pain as he loaded it, barely having the strength to hold his foot in position.

The walker was seconds away from falling down on top of him when he finally managed to fire the bolt, and it connected with the walker's skull before it fell the ground with a thud, half of its head landing in the water of the creek.

He sighed and rolled back against the rocks, warm from the sun shining down on them, and he gripped the bottom of his shirt, pulling it up and looking down at his side, his heart pounding in his chest in fear of him having been bit while he was unconscious. He forced himself to look down, and let out a breath of relief when his eyes fell on what was clearly not a bite, but quite a deep cut or gash in his skin.

He looked over the rocks and found that his knife was laying loose, so he figured that he must have cut himself and fell on it.

"Thank fuck," he grunted and sat up. He touched at the back of his head, where he could feel a bump, and his hand came away with some blood on it. He looked down to his stomach then, and rested his hand over his shirt, "You okay in there?" he asked softly, rubbing over his stomach a couple of times and then scooted over to where his knife lay against the rocks.

He used it to rip off the sleeves from his shirt, and then tied them together and wrapped it around his waist before tying it a knot, hoping to stop the bleeding from his side. He sighed heavily, and then carefully got to his feet. He staggered over to the walker's, pulling out his knife, "Alright, you mother fuckers," he grunted, leaning down when he reached the first walker and beginning to cut off its ears.

Once that was done, he grabbed one of the squirrels from his belt and used his knife to cut it open. He was fucking hungry, and he'd eaten raw meat before.

 

* * *

 

 

"Are you sure?" Rick asked, swallowing thickly as he looked at Lori.

She nodded, brushing her hands through her long brown hair, brushing away her side bangs which had started to grow out too long, "I took four tests. They were all positive,"

Rick sighed heavily, "Have you told Shane?" he asked.

She shook her head, "No, not yet. He'll find out soon enough, I'm starting to get morning sickness, and other symptoms will kick in soon. He'll recognize them from when I was pregnant with Kaiden," she told him.

Rick was about to reply but was interrupted by a loud shout from Andrea, who was sat on top of the RV, "Walker!" She shouted.

"Shit," Rick hissed and stood up, quickly jogging over to the RV where the others had started to gather, "Just the one?" he asked.

"You best let us deal with this!" Shane called to Andrea, and Rick watched as he, Glenn, Merle and T-Dog all started to run with their weapons.

"Hershel said he wanted to be the one to handle walkers!" Rick tried to call to them.

"Man, we can handle this!" Shane replied.

"Fuck," Rick hissed to himself but pulled his gun from its holster and ran after them.

Rick was panting and dripping sweat by the time they were within ten yards of reaching the walker.

"Wait is that..." Glenn trailed off as they stepped closer to the walker.

Rick immediately felt sick to his stomach. It was Daryl. Daryl with blood running from his mouth down his chin, down his temple, his entire side soaked with it, and a definite limp in his step.

Rick's lowered his gun, while Shane kept it raised.

He watched as Daryl's eyes moved to Shane, "It's about time you pointed that thing at my head, you gonna pull the trigger or what?" Daryl grunted out, and Rick let out a deep sigh of relief. Daryl looked like a walker, but he wasn't one.

Then, a gunshot rang out, and Daryl fell back onto the ground.

"No!" Rick screamed, looking back at the RV to where Andrea was laying across the roof, "No!" he yelled again.

He ran forward and collapsed beside Daryl, "Baby," he murmured, Daryl squirmed a little and touched at the side of his head, where the bullet seemed to have only grazed him.

"You gotta be kidding," Daryl grunted as Rick and Merle heaved him up, and god he was a fucking heavy man, not that he could ever say that to Daryl, because that would end with him in the dog house for at least a day or two.

Andrea and Dale suddenly came towards them then, "Is he dead?" She yelled, her face hysterical.

"You just grazed him," Merle hissed out, "Why the fuck did you shoot? We fucking told you we would handle it!" He shouted at her, clearly acting as pissed off as Rick felt.

"I'm sorry," Andrea cried, her eyes wet with tears, following along after them as they walked.

"Look at him!" Glenn exclaimed, pointing his knife towards Daryl, "What the hell happened to him? He's wearing ears!"

Rick looked down, and sure enough, Daryl had a necklace of walker's ears around his neck, for some unknown reason. Rick grabbed the necklace and tugged it free from his husband's neck, tucking it beneath his shirt.

"Let's keep that to ourselves," he grunted, noticing that Hershel and his family had now gathered along the fence.

"Hey, guys!" T-Dog called from where he was a couple of steps behind them, "Isn't this Sophia's?"

Rick swallowed thickly, and then he and Merle pressed on towards the others.

 

* * *

 

 

Rick absolutely hated the sight of his husband right now, he looked exhausted, sick, and even though he had been cleaned up, his skin was still stained with blood.

The bite to his side had been proved to be from his own knife when he fainted and fell, and not a bite from a walker, which is what everyone had been fearing.

"Alright, Daryl," Rick sighed, running a hand through his curls as he looked at the man, who looked right back at him, "I'm putting my foot down," he started, and Daryl raised an eyebrow at him, "And that goes against literally everything I know about you for me to say that, but you have to listen,"

"Have at it Grimes," Daryl grunted, looking down at the map that laid on the bed beside him and Hershel seemed to be getting more frustrated as he attempted to stitch up Daryl's side when he wouldn't stop moving. Rick glanced back at Shane, who was sat in the armchair of Maggie's bedroom, his hands folded in his lap, and Merle who was leaning against the wall.

"You can't go out there anymore," Rick started, and Daryl immediately looked like he wanted to throw something at him, "Not until you're cleared by Hershel, and even then, not without Merle or me with you. You're almost three months pregnant Daryl, you seem to be almost ignoring that," He said, holding Daryl's chin so that he had to look at him, "I am not letting you put yourself, or the baby in danger like that again,"

Daryl looked right up at him with hard eyes, chewing at the inside of his cheek, "Get out," he murmured.

Rick's lips parted, and he was a little taken back by Daryl's bluntness, "You're serious?" he grunted.

Daryl nodded once, "Get out. I'll talk to Merle," he told him, even nodding towards the door.

Rick sighed, but decided he shouldn't anger the beast and further, especially when he was being jabbed with a needle, so he stood up, and brushed his hand through Daryl's hair before he made his way down the hall to where Carl was still staying.

He cracked the door open, in case he was asleep but found he was sat up in his bed and reading a book. He looked up when he heard him, and a smile spread over his face.

"Hey," Rick greeted him, sitting down carefully on the bed beside him.

"Hey," Carl replied, closing his book and resting it down on his lap.

"How are you feeling?" Rick asked him softly, reaching out and pushing Carl's hair back.

Carl grinned at him, and ducked away from Rick's hand, playfully swatting at his wrist, "Better," he said, giggling when Rick tugged at his ear for good measure, "Where's dad?" he then asked.

Rick sighed softly, "He came back from searching for Sophia a little injured," he told him, hating how Carl's face fell, "He's okay, and Hershel's patching him up,"

"What happened?" Carl asked, tucking the blankets of the bed a little further up his body.

"You don't need to worry about that," Rick told him, "But he found Sophia's doll, so that's a good sign, isn't it?"

Carl smiled wider and nodded, "Yeah, it is,"

Rick petted his head and then stood up again, "I'll go and get you something to drink, okay?" he said, noticing that the bottle on the nightstand was empty, so he grabbed it.

He exited the room and was greeted by Shane leaning up against the wall and waiting for him.

"He kicked me out," Shane grunted, laughing and shaking his head, "He really is one crabby bitch when he's pregnant, isn't he?"

Anger bubbled in Rick's stomach, "Do not talk about my husband like that," he almost growled, both eyebrows raised.

Shane rolled his eyes, "You know I hate to say it, but we can't keep going out there, not after this," he said, running a hand over his now shaved head.

"You'd quite now?" Rick asked, stepping closer to him, "Daryl just risked his life to bring back the first hard evidence we've had,"

"That's one way to look at it," Shane replied, shifting on his feet, "The way I see it, Daryl and your baby almost died today for a doll,"

Rick swallowed thickly, "Yeah, Shane, my baby, and I'm sorry, but you don't get to have a say in that baby. Their safety is not your concern, and neither is Carl's," He hissed at him, and he could see the fury in Shane's eyes, "Yeah, I know how you see it," he said, and then stomped down the hallway to get his son something to drink.

 

* * *

 

 

Just as Rick had expected after he had told Daryl that he wasn't too go out searching for Sophia anymore, the man had barely spoken to him.

It was three days after Daryl's accident had occurred, and Carl was officially up and about again. Rick, Shane, and T-Dog had taken a small group out into the woods to give a class on teaching how to shoot, while Merle continued to search for Sophia. The class had consisted of Andrea, Jimmy, Carl, Beth, and Maggie, and Carl had proved to be quite the natural shot.

Now that the class was over, Glenn and Maggie had headed into town to the pharmacy again, and Rick was on his way to the tent that Daryl was staying in, determined to get him to talk to him.

Rick found the tent unzipped, and crawled inside, finding Daryl laying on a camper mattress, a book in his hands and he looked up at him for a moment.

"How are you?" Rick asked as he sat down by him.

"Bored as fuck," Daryl replied, and well, it was something at least.

Rick reached out and placed his hand over Daryl's stomach, rubbing his thumb along the fabric of his shirt.

"Are you showing yet?" Rick asked, figuring the best way to get him talking was by starting the baby.

Daryl shook his head, "Not yet," he grunted, "Next couple of weeks,"

Rick nodded in understanding and found that he was a little excited to see Daryl with a bump again, "You're a few days past three months now aren't you?" he asked, slipping his hand under Daryl's shirt to feel his warm skin.

Daryl nodded, "Out of the first trimester," he grunted, and then finally met his eyes again, "Do you get why I'm pissed?" he asked.

"You don't like not being able to go searching for Sophia,"

Daryl scoffed and shook his head, "No," he grunted, "I'm pissed because the way you went about saying it; like I got hurt on purpose, like I put the baby's life in danger on purpose, do you know how fucking shitty that is?" he growled at him, "I'm already questioning every decision I make, already terrified of everything that concerns this baby, and I don't need you to make that worse,"

Rick breathed out through his parted lips, and he removed his hand from under Daryl's shirt to cup his cheek, "I'm sorry," he murmured, "I did not mean for it to come off like that, I was just stressed and worried about you, I didn't mean to make you feel bad or guilty," he told him, pushing some of his hair out of his face.

"Well, you did," Daryl grunted, rolling onto his side and attempting to get more comfortable, "You made me feel like a shitty dad, and you know that's my worst fear,"

Rick frowned, and chased after Daryl, laying down on his side so that he could look at him properly, "I'm so sorry," he whispered, "You're not a shitty dad, you're an amazing dad, nothing could change that," he told him, and let out a sigh of relief when Daryl let him lean forward and kiss him.

Rick curled up there beside his husband, and for the first time since he'd woken up from his coma, allowed himself to relax a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so daryl's plot is a little different from the show's, because if Daryl fell down the ridge like he did the in the show, the chances of him miscarrying the baby would have been very high, and that's not the path we're going with this story.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are loved & inspire me to write more. 
> 
> Check out my tumblr, I like to talk about my ships and post updates, and my ask box is always open! @iiloulouii
> 
> x


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